CHUBU – On Oct. 21, the “liaison council for consultations on Kadena Air Base (Sanrenkyo)” mailed letters of protest to relevant Japanese and U.S. organizations regarding the airman affiliated with the U.S. military’s Kadena Air Base who drove while under the influence of alcohol and caused an accident resulting in injury on Oct. 5. The council called for the implementation and disclosure of effective preventive measures and a drastic review of the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

The council also protested the incident in which the family member of a U.S. airman was arrested on a charge of DUI on Oct. 9. In the letters, the council also mentions its protest over the Kadena airman who was arrested on a charge of DUI in September. “It is extremely regrettable that cases of DUI occurred in succession and caused traffic accidents resulting in injury and damage to property,” the council wrote. 

The letters were mailed to the U.S. Air Force’s 18th Wing, the director general of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary at the Okinawa Liaison Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the U.S. Consulate-General in Naha.