April 4 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. expressed regret for a series of ``inappropriate'' incidents involving its servicemen in Japan after a seaman was arrested on suspicion of murder.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer met with Japan's Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura yesterday to express his regret over the death of a Tokyo taxi driver last month, U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.

``There have been a number of individual incidents that have occurred involving U.S. service members involved in criminal or other kinds of inappropriate activities and behaviors, and we deeply regret any of those actions,'' Casey said at a press conference in Washington yesterday. ``They do not represent the kind of face that the United States wishes to show to Japan.''

The U.S. military handed the suspect to Japanese police yesterday after he was detained on desertion charges, Casey said. Olatunbosun Ugbogu, 22, confessed to stabbing taxi driver Masaaki Takahashi on March 19 near Yokosuka Naval Base, south of Tokyo, the Yomiuri newspaper reported today, citing Japanese police officials it didn't identify.

Ugbogu's arrest follows anti-American demonstrations last month, seeking a reduction in U.S. military personnel in Japan, sparked by an alleged rape on the southern island of Okinawa.

The U.S. military restricted personnel to their bases except for official activities and ordered a ``day of reflection'' after a marine was accused of raping a 14-year-old Japanese girl. The serviceman was released by Japanese police after the girl's family decided to drop the charges.

Two U.S. teenagers, children of servicemen based in Japan, were arrested today by Okinawa police for allegedly punching a taxi driver and robbing him of 8,000 yen on March 16, Kyodo reported today. A 21-year old U.S. airman is also being questioned in connection with the incident, the report said, without identifying the man.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at sbiggs3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 4, 2008 01:21 EDT