Girard incident In the of 1957 , a Japan ese housewife named Naka Sakai was shot and killed by an American soldier , William S . Girard . On January 30 , 1957 , the 46 - year - old Sakai was collecting scrap metal on a U . S . Army shooting range in Soumagahara , Gunma Prefecture , Japan . Sakai , a mother of six , earned a living selling scrap metal , and had entered the Army area for the purpose of collecting spent rifle cartridges . Specialist Third Class Girard , a 21 - year - old enlisted man from Ottawa , Illinois , used a grenade launcher mounted on an M1 rifle to fire an empty casing at Sakai , which killed her . Extradition and controversy . The strong Japanese outcry over the killing led to a jurisdiction al dispute between the Japanese authorities and the U . S . Army . The Army maintained that Girard had acted while on duty and was thus under the jurisdiction of U . S . military courts , while the Japanese government held that Girard ' s actions had taken place during a period of rest , making him subject to Japanese law . Girard had been assigned to guard a machine gun at the firing range in between sessions of target practice ; the Japanese contention was that since Girard had not fired a weapon during exercises , he could not be considered as actively on duty . Eventually , Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and Secretary of Defense Charles E . Wilson ruled that Girard ' s specific action " was not authorized " , and he was turned over for trial . Girard appealed this decision to the Supreme Court , but the Court rejected his request for intervention . American response to Girard ' s extradition was largely negative . Relatives and supporters in his Illinois hometown drummed up 182 feet of signatures for a petition decrying the decision , the American Legion protested vociferously , the Veterans of Foreign Wars said that Girard had been " sold down the river " , Senator John Bricker of Ohio called the decision a matter of " sacrificing an American soldier to appease Japanese public opinion " , and the " New York Daily News " summed up its feelings in a headline : " To the Wolves , Soldier " . In the midst of the uproar , the " New York Times " , fearing that American reaction was eroding the good will earned in Asia by the initial decision to extradite , published an article lauding the positive interactions between most U . S . soldiers and Japanese civilians , including photographs of soldiers celebrating Christmas with a Japanese family while clothed in traditional Japanese attire . Trial . At the trial , a Japanese witness for the prosecution asserted that Girard had yelled a warning to Sakai before firing , but Girard himself denied ever having done so , a statement which shocked and mystified observers . According to testimony from Victor Nickel , a soldier of the same rank who had accompanied him , Girard had lured Sakai and other scavengers toward his position by tossing empty casings out onto the range , then fired at Sakai " for a joke " . Girard claimed that the death had been an accident . The presiding judge , Yuzo Kawachi , went so far as to visit the scene of the incident himself , and pronounced himself " baffled " by the discrepancies in Girard ' s account of events . However , he stated that he could find " no evidence of deliberate murder " , and Girard was handed only a three - year suspended sentence . He was also demoted to private status by the U . S . Army as a result of his actions . Aftermath . Girard , who was recorded as having an IQ of 90 , was held in little regard by his fellow soldiers , widely viewed as a " bumpkin clown " who drank to excess and ran up debts at various Japanese establishments . After his trial , he went home to America with his Taiwan - born Japanese bride , Haru " Candy " Sueyama , and was repeatedly booed by fellow servicemen during his return trip . Sakai ' s widowed husband , Akikichi , and his six children were compensated with US $ 1 , 748 . 32 ( US $ in 2018 ) for their loss , but this monetary offer was perceived as an attempt to buy off justice by many Japanese , and Akikichi stated to U . S . authorities that " I do not thank you for it . "