Second U.S. service member in months charged with rape in Japan's Okinawa: "We are outraged"

Tokyo — Japan's government protested Friday to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo over at least two sexual assault cases involving American servicemembers on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa that were only recently made public.

In one case, an Air Force member is accused in March of assaulting a teenage girl in December, while the other, which dates from May, involves a Marine accused of assaulting a 21-year-old woman.

The case involving the assault of the teenager is a reminder to many Okinawans of the high-profile 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. servicemembers, which sparked massive protests against the heavy U.S. troop presence on Okinawa. It led to a 1996 agreement between Tokyo and Washington on a closure of a key U.S. air station, though the plan has been delayed due to protests at the site designated for its relocation on another part of the island.