U.S. apology by Bush emissary apparently well received in Japan

TOKYO — Acting as a special envoy for President Bush, the Navy’s No. 2 officer apologized yesterday to the families of the nine people missing and presumed dead after a surfacing U.S. submarine hit and sank a Japanese high school’s training ship.

The meeting was intended to calm anger in Japan over the Feb. 9 accident in Hawai‘i and to silence critics who have said the United States failed to extend appropriate apologies for the accident and was slow to disclose details on why it occurred.

"I’m here to request in the most humble and sincere manner that you accept the apology of the people of the United States and the U.S. Navy as a personal representative of President Bush," Adm. William J. Fallon told the family members at a gathering in the U.S. ambassador’s residence.

His message appeared to be well received.

"I felt the envoy was sincere, and it was the most satisfying meeting we have had yet (with American officials)," said Ryosuke Terata of the fishing village of Uwajima, whose 17-year-old son is among the missing. "We thank you for meeting with us."

Immediately after his arrival, Fallon delivered a letter of apology from Bush to Japan’s prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, and emphasized the president’s belief that the U.S.-Japan security relationship plays a crucial role in maintaining world peace.

Relations were strained before accident

Washington is particularly eager to ease tensions over the Feb. 9 submarine disaster because even before the accident, security ties were strained by a series of sex crimes by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa.

Just days before the USS Greeneville rammed into the Ehime Maru nine miles off O‘ahu, anger exploded over an e-mail in which the top Marine in Okinawa reportedly characterized leaders of the Japanese island’s government as "nuts" and "wimps."

He later apologized, but the uproar has yet to die down and several local assemblies have passed resolutions demanding that the U.S. military presence on Okinawa be reduced or withdrawn altogether.

Roughly half of the 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan are in Okinawa.

Mori asked that the United States do the utmost to salvage the sunken Japanese fishing vessel and give a full accounting of the collision. He also reportedly said Japan may try to retrieve the boat on its own if U.S. efforts fail.

Fallon gave few details of the contents of Bush’s letter of apology, but Foreign Ministry official Toyohisa Kozuki told reporters the president said American authorities would do what they could to raise the ship.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the letter was "a sign of the importance the United States places on its relations with Japan and the sorrow that we feel for the people in Japan who have lost their lives and for people who have lost their loved ones."

Crew did everything it could

After Fallon’s meeting with the relatives, the U.S. Embassy released responses to more than two dozen questions that the families had submitted to the embassy and the Navy.

The responses reiterated Navy statements that after the accident, the submarine’s crew did everything it could to help in rescue efforts and that two civilians at the Greeneville’s controls were "under the direct supervision" of crew members.

But they also left open the possibility that the civilian presence may have been a factor, saying: "Although their actions would normally not be expected to affect the surfacing evolution, these actions will be a subject of the investigation."

In Honolulu, five Japanese salvage experts and a representative from the Japanese consulate visited the accident site Monday and had a look at the wreckage via cameras attached to an ocean surveyor. The Navy is taking videotape of the Ehime Maru to determine whether it can be salvaged.

Hiroshi Sato, chief of the oceanography office of Japan’s Foreign Ministry, said the ship appeared to be mostly intact and had settled on the ocean floor in a stable position. However, he said he would need to talk with Japanese officials before determining how they might attempt to raise the vessel.

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