Internal U.S. Marine Corps documents reveal that lectures supposed to improve marines' understanding of Okinawa instead downplay military crimes and disparage local residents.
Obtained under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, the scripts and slides, titled "Okinawa Cultural Awareness Training," form the basis of mandatory lectures for new arrivals to the island.
Using a Japanese word for "foreigner," one section from a February 2014 talk headed "Incidents and Accidents" states, "We get carried-away with our sudden 'gaijin power' (Charisma man effect) and tend to go over-board by doing things that is not acceptable to the majority in society."