Japan, which has fared reasonably well during the pandemic, is now seeing a lot of omicron cases. Fingers are being pointed at the US military, which, until recently, did not intensively test soldiers flying into Japan, nor did it force American troops to wear masks when going into Japanese cities. The US military is now being called a “loophole” in the country’s COVID-19 defenses, reigniting long-standing grievances over the impact of American soldiers being based in Japan.