People who gathered to protest against a spate of sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen pledge to never allow a recurrence and sing together at the venue in the city of Okinawa on Dec. 22, 2024. (Mainichi/Hiroshi Higa)
OKINAWA -- More than 2,500 people gathered here on Dec. 22 to protest against a spate of sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen stationed in Okinawa Prefecture, according to organizers.
People overflowed to outside of the venue at the civic center in the city of Okinawa. Participants deemed the Japanese and U.S. governments as primarily responsible for ensuring that such incidents are not repeated, and adopted a resolution calling for the prevention of a recurrence and demanding an apology and compensation for the victims.
The Okinawa Prefectural Government found out from media reports in June that police had formed cases against two U.S. military personnel over sexual assaults since March. The Japanese and U.S. governments in 1997 decided on a system for the U.S. side to report incidents that could affect public safety to the Japanese government and the relevant local bodies. It became an issue that the Japanese government and investigative authorities failed to contact the Okinawa Prefectural Government and relevant local bodies about either of the cases despite this system.
In an effort to tackle the current situation in which serious sexual assault cases are being repeated, an executive committee to organize the rally was formed centering around the Okinawa prefectural women's group liaison council consisting of 21 women's groups in the prefecture as well as labor unions and peace movement groups. Preparations were led by Okinawan citizens.
Sorane Sakihama, a third-year Keio University student from the prefectural town of Chatan, participated as the representative of younger generations. At age 13, she had also attended the rally to protest against a 2016 case in which a woman was sexually assaulted and murdered by U.S. military personnel. Looking back on that time, the now 22-year-old emphasized, "Will we have to have children in junior and senior high schools now stand here (at a protest rally) again after another series of incidents a few years later? We will never let such things happen again."
Surreal43 on December 27th, 2024 at 14:34 UTC »
This is sadly nothing new. I've always wanted to be stationed in Okinawa and talking with some of guys that came back from there it was always the same story of *someone* going of base and causing trouble causing the whole base to implement a curfew for months at a time and someone going to jail
That was back in 2015. When my parents were stationed there in the 80s marines were notorious for it and had similar stories (and that's when my parents developed an extreme hate for marines in general). and when my sister and her family were there in 2020. The same exact shit was still happening. I don't know how the military could never correct the problem after being there for 70-ish years its just absurd.
Edit: I should point out there was plenty of “No American” signs in Okinawa in the 80s too, but my parents didn’t face too much discrimination thanks to my dad being half Japanese.
As for being stationed there I’m not sure how true this is for other branches but rumor was Okinawa was where they’d send the fuck-ups. Not sure why but for the AF in my experience there were few so few of us being sent there was considered a privilege as it meant you didn’t need to do any handholding to do the job.
Edit 2: If a military member got sent back to the US for criminal charges against a local, it was so the trial can take place there to be prosecuted under the UCMJ.
RedditorsGetChills on December 27th, 2024 at 14:15 UTC »
Lived in Japan for over a decade, and I mean it when I say the best times for us not in the US military was when they had forced curfews or couldn't leave base due to someone fucking up.
Tokyo is such a great city, but with it having bases a short train ride away, you get some real winners enjoying the cheap alcohol anyone can drink in public before they start causing a scene. I had no idea the non-violent incidents never left Japan, but there were many incidents involving military that didn't make international news.
Decoygray on December 27th, 2024 at 13:58 UTC »
Absolute disgrace. 1955 6yr old victim 1995 12yr old victim
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_US_military_presence_in_Okinawa]