Tension Heightens In Okinawa After Rape Of Japanese Woman By Two U.S. Soldiers

In this Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 photo, Okinawa citizens stage a demonstration denouncing a rape of a Japanese woman by two U.S. sailors and the U.S. military’s decision to deploy the Marines’ MV-22 Osprey hybrid aircrafts to a base in front of U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Foster in Kitanakagusuku in Okinawa, southern Japan. Weary of rules limiting the freedom of their “overwhelmingly outstanding” sailors, the top commanders of the U.S. Navy in Japan eased after-hours restrictions this month. Just four days later, two sailors were accused of rape on Okinawa, a small island that has long had a tense relationship with the large American force stationed there.

In this Friday, Oct. 19, 2012 photo, Okinawa citizens hold a banner denouncing a rape of a Japanese woman by two U.S. sailors and the U.S. military’s decision to deploy the Marines’ MV-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft to a base during a protest rally in Ginowan in Okinawa, southern Japan. <AP Photo/Kyodo News>