More than a thousand people gathered at a hall where they demanded tougher restrictions on US soldiers and a reduction in the number of US troops and bases in Japan.
“Nothing will change because the United States is strong and determined to keep its forces in Japan,” said Yoichi Iha, former mayor of Okinawa’s Ginowan City.
“This instance will happen over and over again and the US will never change the way it handle them,” he added.
Following an alleged rape of a Japanese woman by two US servicemen in October, four US servicemen have been arrested.
One US troop was charged with drunk driving following an accident, another was arrested for allegedly going naked in an Internet cafe, another on trespassing charges and another for hitting a 13-year-old Japanese boy while drunk.
The conference in Toyo was also attended by Catherine Fisher, an Australian woman allegedly raped by a US serviceman in Japan, who is now a prominent activist in the movement to fight for consequences of crimes committed by the US military.
“I was there last week. Basically the people in Okinawa have had enough. Really these incidents have been happening like a broken record and there is zero tolerance… and the Japanese government must take responsibility now,” she said.
Some 26,000 US troops are stationed in Okinawa Island, where the soldiers have reportedly committed more than 5,700 crimes since 1972, when the island was handed back to Japan.
The Japanese also demand action on stalled plans to relocate the US controversial Futenma base.
The Okinawa residents have been protesting the early October deployment of US MV-22 Osprey aircraft, which have a poor safety record. The deployment of the helicopter-plane hybrids sparked days of angry demonstrations around Futenma.
MRS/HSN
