The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly supported the population's anger, passing a resolution and releasing a statement that condemned the reported rape and demanded for the American military to enforce laws.
"We cannot help but say that the US military's efforts and instructions have not been effective, and we feel deep resentment," the assembly said, adding that it has called on the US military personnel numerous times before to ensure proper behavior.
Moreover, the assembly asked for Japan to review its Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the US. The agreement sets the legal status for the American military personnel in Japan. Local lawmakers also called for a reduction in US military bases on the island.
Earlier in March, local police arrested Justin Castellanos, who was based at the US Navy's Camp Schwab, for allegedly raping a woman at a hotel in Naha in the south of Okinawa.
Castellanos reportedly took a Japanese tourist into his hotel room after finding her asleep in the corridor and then proceeded to rape her. The US sailor has denied the charges.
Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga confirmed the incident had taken place.
"It was a serious crime in violation of women's human rights and can never be tolerated," Onaga said, according to Kyodo. "I feel strong resentment."
The case triggered massive anger in Okinawa, where alleged rape by US military personnel is not a new phenomenon. The population is very sensitive to such incidents, especially after the infamous gang rape of a 12-year-old child in September 1995.
'Marines out!' #Okinawa demonstrators mark 500th day of protest against US base (VIDEO) https://t.co/8wOgkOKo6U pic.twitter.com/2hMga8ZOMf
โ RT (@RT_com) November 18, 2015
Okinawa government has been opposed to US military bases in the area ever since, calling for a reduction in US forces. As part of the latest efforts, the governor of Okinawa Onaga filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government to stop the relocation of US Marine Corps base Futenma to another part of the region.
Onaga's lawsuit adds to an ongoing legal battle with Tokyo to revoke the government's decision to construct a new military base for US troops in northern Okinawa.
Onaga took office in 2014 after winning on his anti-relocation promise. Earlier in October, he canceled a 2013 decision by former governor Hirokazu Nakaima allowing construction works at Nago, where the new United States Marine Corps (USMC) airbase was to be based.
Among other concerns, local residents blame the US military for pollution, noise, public disorder and crime.
Under SOFA, Okinawa hosts approximately 62 percent of the US troops in Japan. For the US it is a critical location due to its strategic reach to neighboring China, Russia and Southeast Asia.
It seems that among the Japanese, only the Okinawans are ready to remove that yolk of slavery, colonialism and bowing to the evil lords of empire that the current govt of PM Abe is eager to get more of.... like attracts like, and the Okinawans, being on the front lines of this battle of war and peace, have 'enjoyed' more catalyst than most of Japan, and likewise they've had a greater chance to see the evils of empire up close, something the rest of their nation have silently forgotten and ignored with a complicit govt eager for a chance to return to the front lines of empire building, especially now that China seems ready and willing to do the same. What can the Okinawans do but continue the fight?... and perhaps push for separation as a sign of their real intent? that policy might get more attention than any legal battle that the mainstream media in Japan has been larger ordered to ignore, as it's not a 'positive' message... something else Japan has in common with China these days. Maybe this is more of an in-house racial competition, one the Okinawans don't want any part of?