[StangGuy]

The bigger akwardness comes when you can be confused for a marine. I was a 20 something american with buzzed hair in Hiroshima in late 2007 when the alleged rape of a 19 y/o by 4 marines in a car outside of a club occurred. I also frequented many of the places that Marines would show up on Friday and Saturday night. At the time a bunch more "no foreigner" signs popped up as well as "no Military without a Japanese escort" signs. I was waiting to be accused of being a Marine by a local as happens every once and awhile.

The larger problem though is that when the charges are dropped by Japanese police and the locals think that the marines get off without any punishment. I was still in Hiroshima when the charges were dropped and many of the locals were upset claiming US Govt interference, as it turned out the sex was consensual buth there was some theft afterwards. However, all of the marines were court martialed and convicted for the incident. They were demoted, discharged, and sentenced to between 1 and 2 years in prison and the local papers didn't say a thing about it.