Did prospects for improved Japan-U.S. relations sink with the Ehime Maru off Waikiki two weeks ago? Probably not, but the reaction to what all agree was a tragic accident demonstrates the fragility of the alliance and the need for the more sensitive "American leadership without arrogance" promised by U.S. President George W. Bush upon his inauguration.

While the Japan-U.S. relationship got off to a positive start -- one of Bush's first calls upon assuming the presidency was to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori -- it did not take long for a dose of reality to burst the bubble of euphoria over the declared end of "Japan passing."

The first blow came from the leaked e-mail to the troops from the commander of Okinawa-based Marines, Lt. Gen. Earl Hailston, referring to his hosts as "wimps" and "nuts." This has since been compounded by what is viewed as a lack of responsiveness by Hailston in turning over into Japanese custody a U.S. Marine accused of arson. But it is the collision of the U.S. nuclear submarine Greeneville with the Japanese fisheries training ship Ehime Maru, which resulted in nine students and fishermen missing and presumed dead, that has most fully captured the news and revealed the increasingly tarnished image of the U.S. military among the Japanese populace.