# Were American troops ever attacked in Japan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-american-troops-ever-attacked-in-japan/681146 "2014-02-12T14:40:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-american-troops-ever-attacked-in-japan/681146/1 "2014-02-12T14:40:45Z")
In Germany after the official surrender there was still occasional trouble from fanatical SS/HY holdouts who fought to the last man and a half-hearted guerilla resistance campaign, the _Werwolf_ movement. Did occupation troops in Japan after the surrender face any trouble? Did the Japanese have any equivalent to the _Werwolf_s? Given how ferocious they were it combat it seems strange how servile and cowed they were during occupation (granted two massive bombs and the command of the god-emperor might have something to do with that). All I can find on Google is tales of the holdouts in the Pacific rather than Japan herself. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-american-troops-ever-attacked-in-japan/681146/2 "2014-02-12T14:43:29Z")
I believe this happened on some Japanese islands. Holdout Japanese soldiers who hadn’t yet heard the war was over and that they’d surrendered. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-american-troops-ever-attacked-in-japan/681146/3 "2014-02-12T16:32:35Z")
While the war wasn’t quite officially over, there was an [incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Negroes_incident) on occupied Okinawa where 3 US Marines were killed in retaliation for some rapes. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-american-troops-ever-attacked-in-japan/681146/4 "2014-02-12T16:53:09Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > While the war wasn’t quite officially over, there was an [incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Negroes_incident) on occupied Okinawa where 3 US Marines were killed in retaliation for some rapes. Damn. That’s awful. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-american-troops-ever-attacked-in-japan/681146/5 "2014-02-12T17:55:18Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Given how ferocious they were it combat it seems strange how servile and cowed they were during occupation (granted two massive bombs and the command of the god-emperor might have something to do with that). I think that MacArthur’s grasp of how to properly run an occupation in East Asia also made a big difference. Possibly his greatest accomplishment in life. ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sasquatch\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch_1)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-american-troops-ever-attacked-in-japan/681146/6 "2014-02-13T04:18:49Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > While the war wasn’t quite officially over, there was an [incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Negroes_incident) on occupied Okinawa where 3 US Marines were killed in retaliation for some rapes. Rapes occur pretty much everywhere, and especially in wartime. However, there is no actual evidence that occurred in this case. Further, there is no evidence the 3 Marines killed were even the right people, if repeated assaults were indeed happening. Considering the Marines were identified by name and location, and there is no criminal investigation being done, blindly labeling them rapists is pretty insulting to them and their likely families. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-american-troops-ever-attacked-in-japan/681146/7 "2014-02-13T13:57:40Z")
> [@Sasquatch](#): > > Rapes occur pretty much everywhere, and especially in wartime. However, there is no actual evidence that occurred in this case. Further, there is no evidence the 3 Marines killed were even the right people, if repeated assaults were indeed happening. > > Considering the Marines were identified by name and location, and there is no criminal investigation being done, blindly labeling them rapists is pretty insulting to them and their likely families. Being “killed in retaliation for some rapes” is _not_ calling them rapists. OTOH, it is very likely that they were rapists. Not proven in court or anything, but very likely. I don’t see any reason to defend them in particular. There were a huge number of rapes in Okinawa at the time. Far more per capita than on the main islands. Which is why when I saw the OP’s question I did a search for incidents on Okinawa, where the tension between the civilians the US military has been extremely tense ever since. The fact that the three were written off as deserters with little interest in determining their fate does speak volumes about the racism of the era, however.