Okinawa Furious Again

American violence in Okinawa again. Okinawa Regional Police arrested on Thursday a worker for United States Force in Okinawa, Kenneth Shinzato, 32, with suspicion of abandoning corpse. Based on the statement of Shinzato, the police found a dead body of young woman in a forest, who had been missed since last month. Violence of Americans in Okinawa has been causing firm protest of the citizens in Okinawa against U.S. Force. This case inevitably affects the relocation plan of Futenma Marine Airbase to Henoko.

Rina Shimabukuro, 20, left her home in Uruma city, Okinawa, for outdoor walking exercise around 8 p.m. on April 28^th. After she sent a Line message of leaving home to her boy friend, she has been missed for weeks. Her family asked the police to search her next day. The police reconfirmed that locative information from her smart phone indicated that she was around a landfill area a few kilometers away from her home in 2 a.m. of April 29. As a result of investigation, the police realized that Shinzato was driving a car in that place at that time.

Shinzato was former military personnel of U.S. Force and is working now as a mechanic on computer or electric wiring. “I buried a body of motionless woman in a forest,” told Shinzato in the police interview. How the woman was killed is not identified so far.

Governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, expressed extreme regret for Shimabukuro’s shattered future dreams and hopes to the press in Naha International Airport right after his arrival from a trip to U.S. “We had a violence on a woman in Naha city this year, and after a few months, this kind of thing happened. It is related to the military, which is uncontrollable,” said Onaga. He was also frustrated with Japanese government, indicating that the people in Okinawa knew its incompetence.

In 1995, U.S. Marine personnel raped an elementary school girl, the case which ignited broad anger of Okinawa. It caused a governmental agreement for returning Futenma Marine Air Base to Okinawa. Nevertheless, violence of Americans has not eliminated, encouraging protest against U.S. Force. The case of Shinzato will turn the people in Okinawa on the fundamental contradiction of existence of U.S. bases in Okinawa.

Okinawa issue directly affects Japan-U.S. bilateral relationship. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fumio Kishida, called U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, to his office and expressed “outcry representing Japanese citizens.” Minister of Defense protested to Commander of U.S. Force in Japan, John Dolan, in the Ministry’s office. Some worries about how this case affects the schedule of U.S. President Barack Obama for visit to Hiroshima later this month.