65,000 people protest the U.S. military base in Okinawa after an attack on a local woman

The rape and murder of a 20-year-old Okinawan woman touched off a huge protest Sunday of the American military base in the Japanese city. About 65,000 people attended the rally.

A U.S. contractor is the primary suspect in the woman's death, which reminds locals of the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Japanese girl by three U.S. military personnel. "Japan is part of Japan and when you hurt your little finger the whole body feels pain," said 70-year-old Shigenori Tsuhako, who decided to protest because his granddaughter is the same age as the murdered woman. "I want [Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe to feel Okinawa's pain."

Many protesters demanded an end to decades of large-scale American military presence in their country, but Abe has instead sought to strengthen Japanese-American ties, which continue to be strained by criminal incidents. In early June, the Navy imposed a temporary drinking ban on its personnel in Japan after a U.S. sailor drove while intoxicated, crashed, and injured two people.

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