All U.S. sailors in Japan must adhere to a midnight-to-5 a.m. ban on drinking in public establishments off base, according to the order from Rear Adm. Ian Johnson. (Pixabay)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — U.S. Navy sailors have one less hour of revelry in Japan’s bars and nightclubs after Navy Region Japan tightened up liberty restrictions recently imposed on all service members in the country.
U.S. sailors in Japan must adhere to a midnight-to-5 a.m. ban on drinking in public establishments off base, according to the order from Rear Adm. Ian Johnson. They may not even be in those places during those hours.
The order, which took effect Wednesday, was coordinated with U.S. 7th Fleet, Navy Region Command spokesman Cmdr. Paul Macapagal told Stars and Stripes by email Wednesday.
The change was made to “meet mission requirements and ensure our team remains strong and fully committed to meeting our Mutual Cooperation and Security obligations in Japan, and our broader mission on maintaining international peace and security in the region,” he said.
About 17,400 sailors are stationed at bases across Japan, according to All Hands magazine in January 2019.
The Navy order comes five days after U.S. Forces Japan commander Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp issued a broader rules affecting all service members in Japan. That order bans public consumption of alcohol or being inside an off-base drinking establishment between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. It took effect Tuesday.
Under Rupp’s order, individual commanders have discretion to impose more restrictive measures.
Johnson’s order applies to any sailor or U.S. service member attached to a Navy unit or Navy installation, regardless of age or rank.
Sailors traveling with or assigned to an Army, Air Force or Marine Corps unit are required to adhere to the liberty policy that is more restrictive, the order states.
Both sets of orders define a drinking establishment as a business that may serve food or have other forms of entertainment, but “whose primary function is serving alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises.”
Pubs, taverns, nightclubs and izakayas fall into this category, according to the orders.
The orders also require commanders to ensure their personnel complete Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Training before granting liberty.
Rupp in a public message July 22 said liberty policies were under review for all service branches in Japan after charges of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault were filed that month by Okinawa prosecutors against two service members in unrelated cases.
Air Force Senior Airman Brennon R.E. Washington pleaded not guilty July 12 in Naha District Court to charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor in December. Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton was charged in May with attempting to sexually assault a woman in Yomitan.
A third case was filed last month against a Marine on Okinawa. Lance Cpl. Michael Hofmaster was charged with sexually assaulting and injuring a woman in June.
Those cases led to formal complaints from the Japanese government to U.S. authorities, and from Okinawa prefecture to the U.S. Embassy, U.S. military commanders and the Japanese government.
It also prompted calls from Okinawa’s legislature for changes to the status of forces agreement governing the U.S. military population in Japan.
