U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement

U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement (official name: Agreement under Article VI of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between Japan and the United States of America, Regarding Facilities and Areas and the Status of United States Armed Forces in Japan) is an agreement between Japan and the U.S. approved and enacted in 1960 as stipulated in article VI of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, signed January 19, 1960 in Washington. It is a status of forces agreement that concerns the treatment of United States Armed Forces stationed in Japan.

The SOFA has become a major political issue following instances of violent crimes allegedly committed by servicemembers. Although the Japanese court system has jurisdiction for most crimes committed by American servicemembers in Japan, there are exceptions if the American was "acting in official duty," or if the victim was another American. In those cases the American system has jurisdiction, unless it is voluntarily waived.

Additionally, some idiosyncracies of the agreement create areas of perceived privilege for American servicemembers. For instance, because the SOFA exempts most U.S. military members from Japanese visa and passport laws, past incidents occurred in which U.S. military members were transferred back to the U.S. before facing charges in Japanese courts. Furthermore, the agreement requires that if a U.S. servicemember is suspected of a crime but is not captured outside of a base by the Japanese authorities, the U.S. authorities are to retain custody until the servicemember is formally indicted by the Japanese. Although the agreement also requires U.S. cooperation with Japanese authorities with investigations, the Japanese authorities often object that they still do not have regular access to question or interrogate U.S. servicemembers, making it difficult for Japanese prosecutors to prepare cases for indictment. This is exacerbated by the unique nature of Japanese pre-indictment interrogations, which are focused on eliciting a confession as a prerequisite for indictment, are often conducted without a lawyer, and can last as long as 23 days. Given the difference between this interrogation system and the system in the U.S., the U.S. has argued that the extraterritoriality granted its military members under the SOFA is necessary to afford them the same rights that exist under the U.S. criminal justice system. However, since the 1995 Okinawan rape incident, the U.S. has agreed to favorably consider handing over suspects in serious cases such as rape and murder before they have been charged.