In September 1995 three US Marines kidnapped and gang-raped a young Okinawan girl. Okinawa, a marginal Japanese prefecture located in a chain of islands linking Kyushu and Taiwan (Map A), briefly came into the international spotlight. The anachronistic colonial presence of the US forces in Okinawa from WWII was exposed to worldwide media coverage. It revealed the extraterritorial privilege given to the US military staff and families that excluded them from local jurisdictions. It also revealed the disproportionate concentration of US military bases on Okinawa – Okinawa Prefecture hosts 75 per cent of the US forces deployed in Japan, though it accounts for just 0.6 per cent of Japan’s land mass. A population of approximately 1.4 million live in 2,266 square kilometres (589 per square kilometre). The US military bases and facilities occupy approximately 10.4 per cent of Okinawa Prefecture, and 18.8 per cent of Okinawa Main Island (226 out of 1,204 square kilometres) (Okinawa Ken So¯mubu Chiji Ko¯shitsu Kichi Taisakushitsu 2005: 5) (Map D). In October 1995, 85,000 Okinawans expressed their unwillingness to endure any more of the abuse, outrage, insecurity, nuisance, or inconvenience imposed by this foreign military presence.