-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Four comics featuring a Japanese girl and a visiting US boy will be posted online, each exploring how US and Japanese troops work together.
A US spokesman said they were intended as a light-hearted explanation of the history of the alliance.
The comics, marking 50 years of the security pact, come amid strained ties over US bases in Okinawa.
The first Japanese-language manga comic, entitled Our Alliance - A Lasting Partnership, will be posted online on Wednesday.
In it the young girl, Arai Anzu - which sounds like alliance when pronounced by a Japanese person - asks the boy, Usa-kun - a play on USA - why he is protecting her house.
"Because we have an alliance," he says. "We are 'Important Friends'."
"It's good to have a friend you can rely on to go with you," the little girl concludes.
The manga format was chosen because it was "a very commonly accepted format of media in Japan - it is read as much if not more than newspapers", he added.
Some paper copies of the comics would also be available at bases, he said.
And here's the manga(it's work safe!), in case you want to read it for yourself - http://www.usfj.mil/Manga/Vol%201/Index.html
I'm still not quite sure why Usa-kun generally speaks in katakana for some Japanese words, but then uses kanjii...
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I'm not sure if I should be upset by the propaganda-ness of this, or if I should be utterly bowled over by how cute Usa-kun is. I'm actually leaning towards the latter - I want Usa-kun's sweatshirt! So cute!
I don't think that this will have the intended effect that the US government is hoping it will on Okinawa residents. Sure, there might be young children that will read it, but most of the older citizens are aware of the crimes that some US service personnel have perpetuated.