Members of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly adopted a resolution on Friday calling for revisions to a pact seen as giving the United States military preferential treatment in Japan, following a murder allegedly committed by a U.S. The recent killing of a Japanese woman has triggered outrage in Japan, where any crimes involving U.S. forces have long inflamed criticism of the troops’ presence. The resolution, which will soon be submitted to the U.S.
Embassy, was carried 45 in favor and two against, local media said. The assembly also adopted an opinion statement to the same effect, which will be sent to the Japanese government. The assembly called for a fundamental revision of the Japan Status of Forces Agreement, including provisions on the handing over of suspects.
That 1960 pact is often accused of rendering U.S. military bases virtually extraterritorial and immune to Japan’s domestic laws. The prefectural assembly passed a similar resolution and opinion statement in 2024, following a series of sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa Prefecture, according to Kyodo News. Police said on Sunday that a U.S.
Marine stationed in Okinawa Prefecture had been arrested on suspicion of killing a 39-year-old woman at a hotel in the city of Naha and stealing her wallet. Local media reported the woman was choked to death and that the Marine is denying the allegations. The U.S. has around 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan, mostly in Okinawa Prefecture.
Crimes including rapes, assaults, hit-and-run incidents and drunk-driving accidents by U.S. military personnel have long triggered protests in the prefecture.
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