Japan's bright lights and beautiful women prove to be great lures for many of the bumpkins forming the bulk of the U.S. military in Japan, leading to a greater rate of desertion than most expect, according to Nikkan Gendai (3/24).

"A common pattern is for a service member to go AWOL after not returning from the side of some woman they've met in a bar," a source well-versed on the U.S. military tells Nikkan Gendai. "Even if they are the U.S. military, there are a lot of na?ve country kids in the forces. The moment they come to Japan, they're surrounded by all these bars and clubs and women who make a fuss over them. They just get caught up in it all. It's particularly so in the navy, where they can't get either booze or women while they're at sea, so there is a desertion in Japan at a pace of about one every month or two. The most common time for servicemen to desert is just before their ship leaves port."

But Japan -- an island nation, as the locals are frequently wont to let others know -- is not necessarily the best option a deserter from the U.S. forces could plump for.

Although the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement says U.S. military members don't need to carry a passport in Japan, this same extra-territorial right means deserters here have to prepare well in advance if they want to simply buy an airline ticket out of the country, the lowbrow afternoon daily says.

And if the deserter can't speak Japanese, they can't find a job, meaning most of those who go AWOL are quickly captured.

"Really, the only option for most U.S. deserters in Japan is to eventually give themselves up back at their bases. But deserting in Japan is not regarded as an act of hostility toward the United States, so the punishments are light. Usually, offenders might get somewhere from 30 to 45 days in the base clink," military journalist Motoaki Kamiura tells Nikkan Gendai. "It's similar in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. Someone absent from their duty post is looking at a suspension of about a week. During that time, the offender is forced to stay in their room the whole time and write 'letters of reflection' about their act." (By Ryann Connell)