Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano lodged a protest Tuesday with U.S. Ambassador John Roos over comments by a State Department official that allegedly disparaged the Okinawa people.
The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly meanwhile unanimously adopted a resolution seeking a retraction and apology over the comments by Kevin Maher, who heads the State Department's Japanese affairs office.
Maher reportedly described Okinawa's residents as "masters of manipulation and extortion."