| In September of 1995 three U.S. military personnel sexually assaulted a young girl in the Motubu area of Okinawa Island. This incident brought back memories of the treatment under U.S. military rule and shocked the citizens of the prefecture. The anger of the Okinawan people exploded after fifty years of heavy pressure from the presence of U.S. military bases. Issues such as women's human rights and the Status of Forces Agreement again floated to the surface. Demands for the consolidation and reduction of the military bases arose and the diplomatic problems arising from this incident rattled the Japan-U.S Security arrangement. In the Prefectural Legislature an executive committee was organized and on October 21, 1995 at the Kaihin Public Park in Ginowan City the "Protest Rally Denouncing Violence Committed by U.S. Soldiers and Demanding Revision of the SOFA Agreement" was held. 85,000 persons participated in the event. In Miyako and Yaeyama around 3,000 people gathered as well in protest. Photograph courtesy of Okinawa Times Publishers "Shashin Kiroku, Okinawa Sengoshi" |
