Tatsu, good to see you again. I, too, have never seen a cage separating the driver from the passenger and I’ve ridden in cabs operated by Anzen Taxi. I doubt there was, although that would explain a lot if the sailor had been in the cab. As MTC points out above, though, the credit card is the only thing linking this guy to the crime and that, in and of itself, is not much.

This could very well turn out like most investigations or accusations involving US military personnel and result in no indictment, which will surely increase many people’s irritation with Japan’s mainstream media and its conversion of “shout the accusation, whisper the apology” to “shout the accusation, then keep shouting the accusation even when an apology is due.”

Personally, my first reaction was to think that the seaman had never been in the cab, ever…but who knows, maybe he did commit this crime.

Meanwhile, the police are finding out they have a real problem as regards the physical evidence:

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080324p2a00m0na023000c.html

Then again, I rarely see cages in Japanese taxis, so this is unlikely.

The Mainichi Daily News translator has made a mistake. The text of original article does not confirm the sailor’s presence in the cab, only that his presence is a possibility under investigation:

Here is the original passage:

午後８時ごろ、品川駅周辺で米兵を乗せ、横須賀市まで送り届けた直後に襲われた可能性があり、県警は米兵と何らかのトラブルがあったとの見方を強めていた。

A more correct translation of the above would be:

“There is a possibility that at about 8 p.m. (the cab driver) picked up the American serviceman in the Shinagawa area and that he was attacked immediately after delivering (the serviceman) to Yokosuka City. The police are increasingly holding the view that (the cab driver) had some kind of trouble with the U.S. serviceman.”