Sex Crimes "Cannot Be Tolerated": Japan Warns US Forces (image@Kamikawa_Yoko)

Japan expressed “deep pain” over the revelation of five cases of sexual assaults by the American forces. Tokyo’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said, “The occurrence of these incidents is such that I feel this cannot be tolerated.” The minister made the remark while addressing questions by reporters on growing cases of sexual assault by American soldiers.

Over 50,000 US troops are deployed in Japan under a bilateral security pact, and roughly half of them are in Okinawa.

Earlier this week, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said that five cases of sexual abuse by US forces were detected last year in Japan, most of them in Okinawa.

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Kamikawa said the incidents have caused great anxiety in the local community. “It is something that should not happen…These incidents are extremely regrettable, and when I think about the victims…I am deeply pained as a foreign minister,” she said. Kamikawa further added that the occurrence of sexual crimes is the central challenge.

She also said that Tokyo’s Foreign Ministry will be working with the US side regarding “specific measures and will also ask them to be thorough about preventing incidents.”

Pentagon said it regrets that sex crimes have been committed by American soldiers on Japanese soil and noted that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was closely monitoring developments.

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Last week, authorities in Okinawa complained about the lack of communication with regard to sex crimes by US soldiers.

Prosecutors indicted US Marine Jamel Clayton for attempted rape and injuring a woman. Clayton was arrested in May and indicted by the Naha district prosecutor’s office on June 17.

The prosecutors last week also indicted Senior US Airman Brennon Washington for the alleged sexual assault and kidnapping of a minor last December.