Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki tours Camp Kinser, a Marine Corps base on the island, in January 2019. (Nicole Rogge/U.S. Marine Corps)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The governors of 15 Japanese prefectures where U.S. military bases are located filed petitions Wednesday in Tokyo addressing recent alleged sexual assaults by U.S. service members and continued Osprey flights in Japan.
Members of the Base-Hosting Governors Association filed six letters with Japan’s Defense and Foreign Affairs ministries, the full text of which was posted to the Kanagawa prefecture website.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki, Kanagawa Gov. Yuji Kuroiwa and the vice-governors of Aomori and Nagasaki also met with U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to Japan Katherine Monahan, Japan Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Defense Hisashi Matsumoto and Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Youichi Fukazawa, according to the site.
The association also includes the governors of Hokkaido, Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Yamanashi, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi and Fukuoka prefectures.
The letter on sexual assault indictments calls for a revision to the status of forces agreement governing U.S. service members in Japan to ensure “that extradition of U.S. service members is carried out if it’s requested by Japan.”
It also asks for the term “rape” to be redefined as “non-consensual sexual intercourse” in the Japan-U.S. Joint Committee Agreement on Criminal Justice Procedures from 1995 “for cases subject to custody transfer before indictment.”
The letter comes after an Okinawa Prefectural Assembly delegation delivered two formal letters of protest and petition Friday to the U.S. Embassy, Japanese Cabinet Secretariat, Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo.
U.S. Forces Japan commander Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp, second from right, meets with commanders at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, July 23, 2024. (Edward Yankus/U.S. Air Force)
That petition calls on the U.S. government to take measures to prevent any further incidents like those that resulted in separate indictments for two U.S. service members this year.
Senior Airman Brennon R.E. Washington pleaded not guilty July 12 in Naha District Court, Okinawa, to charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor in December. In June, Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton was charged with attempting to sexually assault a woman in Yomitan village, Okinawa, in May.
U.S. Forces Japan commander Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp in a statement posted online Monday announced a “new forum of cooperation” with the Japanese and Okinawan governments and community members to address alleged misconduct. He also promised further changes to the off-duty liberty policy for all service members in Japan. Rupp met with commanders in Okinawa on Tuesday, according to a Facebook post by USFJ.
“During the meeting, Rupp reinforced expectations and solicited feedback on ensuring a high state of mission readiness and service member conduct in Japan,” the post states. “Rupp encouraged commanders at all levels to be consistent and persistent in maintaining the highest standards from our service members.”
The governors’ association in another letter called for “the expansion of the accident subcommittee established under the Japan-U.S. Joint Committee” to address future U.S. military aircraft accidents in Japan.
It also asked for an agreement with the U.S. to suspend flights of “the same type of aircraft” involved in accidents when requested by Japan “until safety is confirmed and sufficient information is provided to the relevant local governments, such as the cause of the accident and safety measures.”
The U.S. military grounded its fleet of about 400 Ospreys Dec. 6 through March 8 as it investigated the Nov. 29 crash of an Air Force tiltrotor off the southern coast of Japan that killed eight service members.
Two Osprey squadrons at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, resumed flights March 14. Japan grounded its fleet of 14 Ospreys the day after the crash and resumed flights March 21.
Other letters asked for the reversion of U.S. military land to Japan to be completed, an increase in monetary compensation for local governments hosting U.S. military bases and for the Japanese government to cover expenses linked to PFAS from U.S. bases.
