Thursday's arrest of a 32-year-old U.S. man for the alleged murder of a young Okinawan woman has reignited anger locally and threatens repercussions at an international level.
The incident threatens to become a diplomatic problem for the U.S. and Japan just a week before U.S. President Barack Obama visits for the G-7 Ise-Shima summit and makes a historic trip to Hiroshima.
While in Japan, Obama is expected to tout the strength of the postwar U.S.-Japan alliance. But now there are fears in Tokyo and Washington that the incident will lead to mass demonstrations in Okinawa against the U.S. military of the kind last seen in 1995, when three troops gang-raped a 12-year-old girl. Those protests rattled the military alliance.