Photo/Illutration A rally protesting the rape of an elementary school girl by three U.S. servicemen is held at a park in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Oct. 21, 1995. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Okinawa has been on my mind the last few days. I remember one massive protest rally that was held in the city of Ginowan in Okinawa Prefecture in 1995 after it was found that a 12-year-old Okinawan girl had been raped by three U.S. servicemen.

Sugako Nakamura, then a third-year pupil at a local senior high school, delivered a speech that could not have been more articulate and dignified.

While deploring the irrationality of living in a de facto military town, Nakamura also spoke of the victim’s privacy.

When she thought about “the girl’s feelings,” Nakamura said, she could not help wondering if it was right to have made the rape public and openly denounce the perpetrators.

She was torn between her loathing for the American soldiers and her empathy toward the victim. Her deeply conflicted feelings were almost palpable.

I am sure many Okinawans were outraged while also experiencing complex emotions.

At the rally, then-Okinawa Governor Masahide Ota (1925-2017) began his speech with an apology for failing to avert the crime.

That was 29 years ago, but Okinawa’s tragedy still continues.

Last week, it came to light that a U.S. serviceman was indicted in March for allegedly kidnapping and sexually abusing a Japanese girl. Moreover, another U.S. soldier was arrested in a different case in May.

What is beyond comprehension is that the central government had withheld these incidents from the Okinawa prefectural government for months.

Given Okinawa’s history of repeatedly being a victim of abominable crimes, surely Tokyo could not possibly claim that Okinawa did not have to be informed.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi mentioned “the victims’ privacy,” but how cheap and flimsy his words sounded compared with the agony-ridden words of the people of Okinawa.

In the first place, how truly has Tokyo ever cared about the “heart” of every young Okinawan victim?

The closing lines of Nakamura’s speech are well known, but I would like to repeat them here: “Please return to us a quiet Okinawa. Please give back to us our military-free, tragedy-free and peaceful islands.”

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 2

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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