Over the past few years, a number of accidents and crimes have led to growing local opposition to the US presence on the island.
The 2016 rape and murder of a 20-year-old local woman saw tens of thousands of protesters demonstrate against the heavy US presence there. A former US marine subsequently received a life sentence for the crime.
The US currently has about 55,000 military personnel stationed in Japan, with the heaviest concentration based on the tropical island prefecture. Okinawa is one of the country’s smallest prefectures by size, but 70% of the land used exclusively by the US military in Japan is located there.
In 1972, Okinawa prefecture was returned to Japanese control after United States forces occupied the islands at the end of the Second World War. Since then, there have been 6,409 arrests for criminal offenses related to US military personnel, according to Okinawa Prefectural Government.
Locals say the significant US presence has stirred resentment over a number of issues from crimes including rapes, assaults, and drunk-driving accidents to local disturbances such as noise and aircraft crashes.
In 1995, three US servicemen abducted, beat, and raped a 12-year-old schoolgirl as she walked home from a stationery store.
In 2025, a US Marine was convicted of choking and sexually assaulting a Japanese woman.
“Even 80 yeas after the war, Okinawa where we live is a place that is so unnerving,” 48-year-old mother of two boys Hitomi Miyagi told the BBC.
“We will not stop raising our voices hoping for an Okinawa, where we can live in peace.”
