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Over a hundred protesters in Japan took to the streets on Sunday to speak out against the U.S. military presence on the island of Okinawa, where U.S. soldiers have outraged locals by engaging in crimes from rape to murder.
Protesters marched down the streets of Tokyo with banners reading “no more base," demanding that the Japanese government scrap a plan to allow the creation a new U.S. base on the island.
A series of recent crimes by U.S. military personnel have sparked protests, including rapes, assaults and hit-and-run accidents.
Next week thousands of Okinawans are expected to march against the U.S. presence, a remnant of Japan's defeat in World War II.
Last week, Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested for the alleged rape and murder of local 20-year-old Rina Shimabukuro. He had earlier been arrested for disposing of her body.
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Also last week, a sailor was arrested for allegedly driving the wrong way down a street while intoxicated and injuring two people.
This has led to increasing opposition and even an alcohol ban for U.S. navy personnel in the country.
More than half of the 47,000 American troops in Japan are located on Okinawa, the site of a major World War II battle.
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