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Bush sending TOKYO -- President Bush has dispatched a senior Navy officer to hand-deliver a letter to Japan's prime minister and apologize for the collision between a submarine and a Japanese high school's fishing boat.
apologetic letter to
Japanese premier
Apologies from the Navy,
government and people over the
fatal sub collision will be
hand-delivered
Annual flower viewing canceled in Japan
Associated Press
Adm. William J. Fallon, the vice chief of naval operations, was to arrive tomorrow at Yokota Air Base, a U.S. military facility on Tokyo's outskirts, the U.S. military announced today.
"He will be in Japan to offer apologies on behalf of the U.S. government, the U.S. Navy and the American people" for the collision, according to a statement released by the U.S. Forces, Japan.
Fallon was expected to meet with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Wednesday to deliver the letter from President Bush.
The decision to send Fallon follows growing criticism in Japan that the United States has not been sufficiently forthcoming regarding the causes of the Feb. 9 collision off the island of Oahu.
Nine of the 35 people on board the Japanese vessel -- including four high school students -- are missing and presumed dead.
The dispatch of Fallon also reflects the importance Washington places on its security alliance with this country, which hosts about 50,000 U.S. troops.
The U.S. Seventh Fleet operates from a base just south of Tokyo, which is also used by American submarines.
Even before the collision, however, the security ties were under considerable strain.
The U.S. military has been under fire here after a Marine was arrested for lifting a schoolgirl's skirt last month on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.
The top Marine on Okinawa then outraged many Okinawans by calling local leaders "wimps" and a "bunch of nuts" in an email to his staff.
He later apologized.
Breaking his silence over the submarine collision, the commander of the USS Greenville yesterday issued a statement through his lawyer expressing his "most sincere regret." Though strongly worded, the statement stopped short of an apology.
U.S. Navy investigators are trying to determine whether the presence of 16 civilians on the submarine led to mistakes that caused the collision.
The Ehime Maru was operated by a high school for aspiring sailors in Uwajima, a small fishing village about 430 miles southwest of Tokyo.
YOKOSUKA, Japan -- The Yokosuka municipal government in Kanagawa Prefecture has decided to cancel the annual cherry blossom-viewing festival for local residents at the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base slated for April 8, municipal government officials said today. Annual flower viewing
canceled in JapanKyodo News Service
The Yokosuka government made the move in consideration of the feelings of the families of students, instructors and crew members aboard the Japanese fisheries training ship Ehime Maru, sunk by the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine Greeneville off Hawaii on Feb. 9, the officials said.
Last year's event drew about 100,000 people to the base, according to the officials.
Nine high school students and 17 crew members aboard the Ehime Maru were rescued, but nine others are missing, presumed dead.
The officials said a sightseeing tour to introduce historical buildings on the base to the public will be held as scheduled in March.