Hundreds of protesters held a rally in Tokyo on Tuesday following the exposure by the Japanese media that a total of five sexual violence cases implicating U.S. soldiers in the country have gone unreported since 2023.
At least two alleged sexual assault cases involving American service members in the southernmost Japanese prefecture of Okinawa have recently been made public, triggering strong protests from the Japanese public.
Protesters held banners that read: "Saying no to sexual violence against girls by U.S. military personnel" and "Removing the military bases from Okinawa", voicing their strong dissatisfaction with both the U.S. military and the Japanese government.
"The Foreign Ministry didn't inform the governor and government of the Okinawa Prefecture of this incident in Okinawa. If it had done that, the subsequent events might not have happened. The Okinawa prefectural government failed to protest to the U.S. military or strengthen local security. Therefore, I believe the Foreign Ministry bears responsibility for the subsequent events and I strongly protest against them," said a protester.
"When I was a student, I went to a party held in Okinawa where there were many American soldiers. I was grabbed from behind by a soldier and was asked for my phone number. They were all drunk. I was only about 19 or 20 years old at the time. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't break free or resist," said another protester.
Many protesters argued that despite the frequent occurrence of sexual violence by U.S. soldiers in recent years, the Japanese government has not been fully open about such cases.
"I can never forgive such incidents. I just can't believe things like this happened. When I first heard the news, I couldn't believe it, but later I learned that in the past 30 years, nearly 30 cases of sexual violence occurred, with about half of them going unreported. I realized that it's not new, and this makes me even more furious. I find this totally unacceptable," said a third female protester.
Crimes involving U.S. soldiers in Japan have been a persistent issue over the years. Official data from the Okinawa Prefecture show that, from 1972 to 2023, there had been approximately 6,200 criminal cases involving U.S. military personnel and their dependents in Okinawa, including serious offenses such as murder, rape, and robbery.
Protesters rally against government concealing sex assaults cases involving US military
