Two US marines based on the Japanese island of Okinawa are being investigated for alleged rape, days after local authorities stepped up efforts to deter sexual and other crimes by US service personnel.
A marine in his 20s is suspected of raping a Japanese woman in a bathroom at a US military base last month, while a second man, also a marine in his 20s, allegedly raped a woman at a base in January, according to media reports.
The men, who were not named publicly, had been referred to Japanese prosecutors, the Kyodo news agency said.
The first man is also alleged to have injured a second woman as she attempted to stop the assault.
The Okinawa governor, Denny Tamaki, who is opposed to US military bases in the country, condemned the alleged rapes as “deplorable” and urged US military authorities to “take measures to prevent a similar incident”.
The US ambassador to Japan, George Glass, said he was deeply concerned by the reports.
Glass, who arrived in Japan last week, said: “We deeply value the ties of trust and friendship we have built over many decades with our Japanese hosts, and I am committed to doing everything I can to prevent actions that may jeopardise these bonds.”
The alleged rape cases are certain to anger civilians in Okinawa, a subtropical island that hosts more than half of the 47,000 US troops in Japan and two-thirds of US bases.
In 2024, 80 people connected to the US military were charged with crimes in Okinawa. Three servicemen have been indicted over alleged sexual crimes on the island since last June.
Other high-profile crimes, notably the 1995 abduction and rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US servicemen, inflamed anti-base sentiment on the island and prompted Washington and Tokyo to attempt to reduce the US military footprint.
In 2012, the two countries agreed to move 9,000 marines from Okinawa to the US Pacific territory of Guam and other locations, and to relocate a sprawling base in the middle of a heavily populated area to a remote coastal site. However, only about 100 marines have left Okinawa, and the base relocation has been delayed by legal and political challenges.
The US and Japanese governments say US troops in Okinawa act as a deterrent amid growing concern over Chinese military activity in the South and East China Seas, and North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Last week, US military officials and Japanese police conducted a joint patrol of a popular nightclub near a US airbase in Okinawa. It was the first time the two countries had conducted patrols together since 1974, two years after the islands that make up Okinawa prefecture reverted to Japanese control.
