The governor of Okinawa Prefecture has conveyed his concern to US officials following allegations of sexual assaults by US military personnel in his prefecture.
Governor Tamaki Denny met with Nicholas Snyder, the director of the State Department’s office of Japanese affairs, and Grace Park, the director for Japan policy at the Defense Department, in Washington on Wednesday. The meeting was held behind closed doors.
Tamaki reportedly told the US officials that it is important to build a relationship of trust from the standpoint of recognizing the Japan-US alliance.
He also conveyed a concern over the series of alleged sex crimes by US personnel in the prefecture.
Information on those incidents had not been reported to the prefecture.
Tamaki reportedly said agreements between Japan and the US about the reporting of assaults were not observed.
The two sides reportedly discussed Okinawa’s burden of hosting US military bases, as well as the high levels of PFAS — a group of organic fluorine compounds — detected around US bases in the prefecture.
After the meeting, Tamaki told reporters that the US side said the country shares his concerns and has the same view about the importance of building a relationship of trust to solve the problems. He said the US officials told him they take the matters seriously.
The governor also plans to meet with members of Congress and hold lectures to strengthen cooperation with the US to resolve issues related to the US military bases in the prefecture.