Ryukyu Shimpo and Okinawa Times took up a briefing given to the Okinawa prefectural assembly on Thursday by a senior prefectural government official on a survey conducted in Italy and Germany concerning the implementation of their respective status of forces agreements (SOFAs) with the U.S. military. The official reportedly said there are “major differences” between Japan’s SOFA and those of the two European nations, explaining that domestic laws apply to U.S. military operations there and this contrasts sharply with Japan where the U.S. military is not subject to domestic regulations in principle.