In March of this year, a man stationed at Kadena Airbase in Okinawa was indicted for the kidnapping and sexual assault in December 2023 of a girl under 16. Only when it was reported in the local media on June 25 did the Japanese government in Tokyo inform the Okinawa Prefectural Government of the indictment. There have been multiple cases of such delay of reporting discovered since then, and it is widely viewed in Okinawa as a Japanese government cover-up. Yet the topic is talked about so little in the United States and mainland Japan.
We, the Okinawa Interest Group (OIG), invite you to join our webinar on the 4th of October (the 5th in Japan) focussing on this issue, with two featured guest speakers, Suzuyo Takazato and Alexis Dudden, and an OIG member Steve Rabson as a commentator.
Suzuyo Takazato, Co-chair of Okinawa Women Act against Military Violence and a former member of the Naha city council, helped establish a rape crisis center for the victims of military sexual violence and has worked for peace by resisting militarization of Okinawa.
Alexis Dudden, Professor of History at the University of Connecticut and Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at the National University of Singapore, helped organize a 2015 letter signed by a group of American academics condemning Japan’s denial of the history of its military sex slavery. A recent piece of hers, “Okinawans must not be overlooked in new US–Japan counter-crime forum”, was published in the East Asia Forum.
Steve Rabson, a member of the OIG and professor emeritus of Brown University will comment on the guest speakers’ talks.
We will set aside time for participants to ask questions of our two speakers. Let’s gather online to study and benefit from the insightful analysis of two leading feminists on topics such as the toxic masculinity that is spawned and maintained by the militaristic and colonizing culture of U.S. bases.
Contact: okinawastatement2024@gmail.com
