Hit-and-run accident possibly caused by U.S. serviceman in Okinawa

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Hit-and-run accident possibly caused by U.S. serviceman in Okinawa

Another crime suspected to have been caused by U.S. military personnel occurred in Okinawa on November 7.

A dead body was found by a passerby in Yomitan Village. Okinawa prefectural police recognized the man, later identified as Hokama Masakazu, 66, as the victim of a hit-and-run accident.

On November 9, police seized a vehicle used by U.S. military personnel in connection with Hokama’s death. It was brought to a garage on November 7 close to the site where his body was found.

The site was close to the U.S. Yomitan Auxiliary Airfield and about 1km from the U.S. Army Torii Station, where the special forces (Green Berets) are stationed.

Near the site, a vehicle driven by a drunken U.S. serviceman hit a residents’ house in September last year, according to Japanese Communist Party Yomitan Village Assembly member Isa Shinbu.

- Akahata, November 10, 2009