The collision off Oahu Island between the Japanese fisheries training ship Ehime Maru and the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine USS Greeneville has drawn an unprecedentedly sensitive reaction from Japanese people. There are a number of reasons for this sensitivity on the part of the Japanese, and it is feared that the Japanese may have a stronger feeling of distrust in the United States if this problem is not handled properly.
For example, attention has been drawn to a comment made by one Japanese: "I think that the U.S. is no different from Russia, after all." That remark, of course, compared the collision to the tragic sinking of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk in the Barents Sea in August last year, which drew indignation from Russians and condemnation and derision by the international community because Moscow was slow not only in disclosing information but also in attempting to rescue the crew.
Upon being informed of the incident in Hawaii, most Japanese must have remembered the Russian tragedy and expected that the U.S. Navy would take a more humanitarian course of action. Such hopes were dashed, however.