Rape Charge Against Marine Damages U.S.-Japan Relations

A 27-year-old United States marine at Japan’s Okinawa military base was indicted for raping a woman and injuring another one in a restroom last month, Kyodo News reported on April 30, based on reports from local prosecutors.

• This marks the third case involving sexual violence by U.S. military personnel in Okinawa since June 2024.
• Last year, 80 people connected to the U.S. military were charged in Okinawa for various crimes.
• Many Japanese also say the U.S. bases cause serious noise pollution and environmental degradation.

Okinawa hosts 31 U.S.-only military facilities, making up about 70 percent of such sites in Japan. The island hosts roughly half of the 50,000 U.S. troops deployed to Japan under a security deal.

Deteriorating relations: Japan has been strongly allied with the U.S. for decades. The U.S. has even encouraged the country to gradually remilitarize, despite the Constitution that America drafted for Japan after World War ii stipulating that Japan would “forever renounce war” and never use force to settle international conflicts.

The Japanese have eagerly worked toward becoming a fully autonomous military nation. They have worked to strengthen trade and defense ties with European nations, including Germany, Italy and France, as well as Asian countries such as India, Vietnam, the Philippines and even South Korea—a historic enemy. Japan is even seeking closer ties with archrival China, especially in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war.

Violence by U.S. soldiers on Japanese citizens is only one of many factors fueling Japan’s desire to break from its reliance on the U.S.

Betrayal: Bible prophecy shows that we should expect Japan’s relations with the U.S. to deteriorate further, leading to a break between the nations.

To learn more, read “Japan’s Coming Betrayal of America.”