By Mari Yamaguchi
Associated Press Writer

UWAJIMA, Japan — People in this remote village were angered today to hear a civilian’s description of sitting at the controls when a U.S. Navy submarine shot up from the sea and into a Japanese fishing boat off Hawaii.

The USS Greeneville rocketed into the boat carrying Japanese high school students on a two-month training trip and sent it to the bottom of the sea Feb. 9. Twenty-six aboard were rescued within an hour; nine remain missing.

“It’s outrageous and unforgivable,” said Hirofumi Takeda, who was walking home late today after a night out with friends in Uwajima. “It sounds like they were fooling around. It’s very upsetting, especially for the people in this town.”

In Tokyo, a Foreign Ministry official said the government could not comment on a civilian’s televised remarks about what happened aboard the submarine because it had not received an official report from Washington.

But earlier today, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono spoke to Secretary of State Colin Powell and demanded information on exactly what the civilians did at the controls.

Kono said in a ministry statement that it would be an “extremely grave situation” if the participation of the civilians led to the accident. Powell was quoted as saying in the 20-minute conversation that there was not yet any evidence of that.

Kono also asked Powell why U.S. officials did not directly inform Japan that civilians were taking part in the sub’s maneuvers, the ministry said.

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori sent an official to Washington to convey the strong wishes of relatives of the missing for a continued search, Mori spokesman Kazuhiko Koshikawa said.

John Hall — one of 16 civilians aboard the submarine — told NBC’s “Today” show that he pulled control levers just before the emergency surfacing drill, with a crew member at his side.

Another civilian, Todd Thoman, told NBC a periscope was “most definitely” used to check the ocean surface before the drill. The captain of the submarine looked through the periscope and saw no vessel, Thoman said.
“It sounds like the operation lacked professionalism,” said Uwajima taxi driver Mutsumi Makino. “It’s incredible to do such a thing in an area filled with dozens of civilian boats.”

Even before the remarks from Hall and Thoman, Japan’s media expressed disbelief that civilians had been at the helm.

“Why were the controls left to civilians?” the conservative Nihon Keizai Shimbun asked in an editorial. “Every time new information emerges, our doubts and anger are stirred up.”

U.S. and Japanese officials were eager to make sure the sinking does not damage relations. The U.S. military bases in Japan form the backbone of Washington’s strategic presence in Asia, and allow Japan to keep down its own military expenditures.

But tension was already high over the U.S. military presence on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, where a municipal assembly called today for the withdrawal of all Marines from the island and the resignation of their commander.

Fifteen crew members from the fishing vessel returned to Japan on today from Hawaii. The captain stayed behind. The search for the missing nine — including four students — continued today.