Olatunbosun Ugbogu (C) is escorted by US military officers at the police station in Yokosuka. Amid growing tense relations between Washington and Tokyo, a US navy sailor has been sentenced to life for the stabbing murder of a taxi driver in Japan.

Olatunbosun Ugbogu (C) is escorted by US military officers at the police station in Yokosuka.Amid growing tense relations between Washington and Tokyo, a US navy sailor has been sentenced to life for the stabbing murder of a taxi driver in Japan.Olatunbosun Ugbogu, a 23-year-old serving in the US Navy, was sentenced in the Yokohama District Court on Thursday.The service member was found guilty of stabbing 61-year-old Masaaki Takahashi to death near a US naval base in south of Tokyo in 2008.The locals have called for tougher punishment for the US service members who disregard the law.The murder strained Washington-Tokyo relations, prompting the US officials to apologize to the Japanese people and the victim's family.The US military personnel's relationship with the local population is often uneasy.Japanese people have called for a complete withdrawal of about 50,000 US military personnel in the country.The verdict also comes at a time as Japan's opposition leader says he intends to end the country's contribution to the US-led mission in Afghanistan and Iraq should his party come to power in upcoming elections.Opinion polls show that the main opposition party lead by Yukio Hatoyama stands a good chance of winning in Japan's September elections.