Japanese Town Angry That Sub Chief Is Unlikely to Face Court-Martial

Residents of Uwajima, a town in western Japan that saw nine of its own killed when a U.S. submarine surfaced under a fishing school vessel in February, reacted with anger Friday as it became increasingly clear that the warship’s commander will not face criminal charges under U.S. military law.

“People here feel that without a court-martial we’re never going to know who was really responsible,” said Kayoko Yoneda, head of the Uwajima Victims Support Group. “That’s why there’s such frustration.”

Rear Adm. Robert Chaplin, commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Japan, met Friday in Uwajima with family members and survivors of the ill-fated Ehime Maru.

Cmdr. Scott Waddle, captain of the submarine Greeneville, was informed Friday by Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of the Pacific Fleet, that he will not be court-martialed and was instead ordered to an administrative proceeding called an “admiral’s mast” on Monday in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, according to sources close to a U.S. inquiry.

Katsuyuki Okutani, an Uwajima representative who attended Friday’s meeting with Chaplin, said the U.S. admiral appeared deferential and sincere.

Okutani said Chaplin left the message that Navy officials believe that Waddle will face surer and tougher punishment under an admiral’s mast because it is highly uncertain that a court-martial would result in a conviction.

Under an admiral’s mast, Waddle will face a superior officer and can be reduced in rank, fined, confined to quarters and, in effect, forced to retire.

A Navy official who requested anonymity said Chaplin did not explicitly tell the Japanese that Waddle will not face a court-martial but that it was understood, based on Chaplin’s statements and reports from their government and media, that the U.S. admiral who made the decision had rejected holding such a trial.

Word that Waddle will avoid a court-martial was not what most people in Uwajima wanted to hear. But elsewhere in the country, Japanese with no direct connection to the Feb. 9 accident off Honolulu seem to be less concerned with the Ehime Maru and more focused on their nation’s relations with China, upcoming elections and troubled economy.

“Japanese wanted to see Americans apologize quickly and clearly, and they did,” said Yasuhiro Yoshida, an international relations professor at Saitama University. “I think there’s a growing feeling we should move on.”

Tamami Kondo, head of the Seishikai finishing school in Tokyo and an expert on apologies, said broad-based public anger seemed to soften markedly after Fargo was shown on Japanese television bowing to the victims amid reports that he had tears in his eyes.

“Japanese felt so sympathetic, I think our emotions were a bit manipulated,” she said. “America seemed to really understand Japanese nature and use it to their advantage.”

Fargo also took the unprecedented step of including Rear Adm. Isamu Ozawa, a veteran submariner from the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, as a nonvoting member of a court of inquiry.

In addition, the Navy went to great lengths to accommodate the hundreds of Japanese journalists who traveled to Pearl Harbor to cover what proved to be a 12-day hearing with 33 witnesses that included a five-hour grilling of Waddle.

The court of inquiry unanimously recommended to Fargo, the final arbiter of the case, that neither Waddle nor any crew member be sent to court-martial. The three U.S. admirals on the panel, with the concurrence of Ozawa, found that the mistakes made by Waddle and others were not committed with malice, which is seen by the court as a requirement for the filing of criminal charges.

With a host of official U.S. government apologies extended to Japan during the past two months, more people are starting to look for a more tangible expression of U.S. regret--namely, compensation for the victims.

Last month, Navy officials told families of the nine people who were killed in the accident that out-of-court settlements would be fixed at a maximum of $1 million for each victim, reportedly because higher levels would require congressional approval.

Without some agreement on payment, real closure is not possible, said Kazuomi Ouchi, an international law professor at Chuo University. “Japanese are quick to demand apologies and to call for punishment,” he said. “But no matter what country or culture is involved, compensation is ultimately the key issue.”

Opinions differ on whether the U.S.- Japan relationship will suffer any long-term damage.

Retired Adm. Archie Clemins, Fargo’s predecessor, said he believes that the Japanese public has already moved beyond its initial anger. He added that the recent confrontation between the U.S. and China over the detention of a U.S. spy plane served as an “object lesson” for the Japanese.

“The Japanese have serious and long-term concerns about the Chinese, and they know that their security is greatly enhanced by maintaining a good working relationship with the U.S.,” Clemins said.

For many in Uwajima, however, trust and a sense of security have been destroyed. Behind the strong calls for a Waddle court-martial is the hope that further investigation can somehow make sense of what many see as a senseless incident. Residents say they want more meaningful answers on why 16 American civilians were aboard the Greeneville, why its sonar didn’t pick up the Ehime Maru and how the captain reached the decision to suddenly surface.

While a great deal of attention has focused on the nine people who died in the accident, many survivors are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. “They can’t sleep, concentrate, are afraid of the dark,” said Saburo Inoue, general news editor of the local paper, the Ehime News. “They have nightmares, hardly smile. Their emotions aren’t stable.”

Support group head Yoneda is a close friend of one victim’s family. Masumi Terata, who lost her son, Yusuke, vacillates between extreme anger and near-incoherent denial, Yoneda said.

“On the day Yusuke was scheduled to return, she went to the station to wait for him,” Yoneda added. “She still leaves messages in the house for him to call her when he gets in.”

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Magnier reported from Tokyo and Perry from San Diego.