Another sexual assault scandal involving US troops in Japan is exposed. The governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan will go to the US to protest

Recently, US troops stationed in Japan have been exposed again for a soldier's sexual assault on a woman, which has drawn widespread attention. According to the Okinawa Prefecture police in Japan on September 5, in June this year, a US Marine soldier in his twenties sexually assaulted an *** woman in Okinawa Prefecture, resulting in injuries to the woman. The case has been transferred to the prosecutor's office, but the police did not arrest the suspect. The unit to which the soldier belongs has restricted his movement range to US military facilities within Japan.

Recently, multiple sexual assault cases by US soldiers stationed in Japan on women have been exposed. However, the Japanese central government, police and prosecutors, citing reasons such as protecting privacy, have not released the details of the cases and have not promptly notified the Okinawa Prefectural Government. This approach has aroused strong dissatisfaction from the Okinawa Prefectural Government. To change this situation, the Okinawa Prefecture police established a mechanism in July this year stipulating that after arresting a suspect or transferring a case to the prosecutor's office, case information must be promptly notified to the Okinawa Prefectural Government. The incident on September 5 is the first case notified since the establishment of this mechanism.

When interviewed on the 6th, Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki condemned this case. He questioned the effectiveness of the US side's measures to rectify military discipline, saying, "Judging from the current situation, we have to make a severe judgment. The severity is indescribable." Denny Tamaki will also visit the United States on September 8 to strongly protest to the US State Department and the Department of Defense about criminal cases successively caused by US soldiers. He also said that he will express strong opposition based on the collected information during his visit to the United States.

For a long time, criminal problems of US troops stationed in Japan have occurred frequently. According to statistics from Okinawa Prefecture, from 1972 to 2023, US troops and military dependents stationed in Japan have committed about 6,200 criminal cases in Okinawa, including heinous cases such as murder, rape, and robbery. These incidents have seriously affected the lives and safety of local people and continuously triggered protests against US military bases by the people of Okinawa. The recurrence of this sexual assault incident undoubtedly further intensifies the dissatisfaction of local people, and the contradiction between Okinawa Prefecture and the United States is also more prominent. The future development of the situation attracts attention.