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Few can forget the massive snow storm that swept over most of Japan’s main island of Honshu this February. Obscene amounts of snow accumulated everywhere, throwing cities into panic, shutting down Disneyland for the first time in years, and even completely destroying U.S. warplanes like some kind of snow-based Godzilla villain.

But now the U.S. is wading into some touchy political territory, announcing that it’s currently investigating whether or not to demand compensation from Japan to pay for the planes because, come on, obviously that’s Japanese snow.

Everybody say it with me, folks: ‘MMMMURICA!!!

Unsurprisingly, while it looks like Japanese politicians are holding off on comments for now, Japanese Netizens are heading right into the fray:

“If you have such a problem with the weather here, then take your bases off our land!”

“The American military are no better than common thieves.”

“So… When America says they want Japan’s cooperation, they really mean they want our wallets…”

“American military equipment is America’s problem. What is going on here?”

“Extortion: America’s favorite pastime.”

A similar model to the aircraft in question.

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Of course, there’s more to the story than the Internet trolls might have you believe: The four planes, of which three were apparently damaged beyond repair, were parked in a hangar operated by a Japanese contractor. The American planes, along with several Japan Air Self Defense Force aircraft, were all damaged when the hangar’s roof collapsed under the weight of the snow.

So, that may mean the U.S. military has a contractual right to claim damages if there’s no “Not Liable for Obliteration by Catastrophic Snowstorm” clause.

Still, even though each of the Lockheed P-3C planes costs a hefty US$3.6 million, that’s a drop in the bucket of U.S. military spending and America might just want to let this one go if they want to avoid looking like a kooky senior citizen desperately trying to blame someone for inclement weather.

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Source: NHK News
Photos: Leading Edge Aviation Insurance (Modified by RocketNews24), Wikipedia: Sgt. Gary Coppage, YouTube