Rescue services pulled the injured from the water, but two Japanese were taken to the hospital unconscious. Doctors were unable to help. Another ten people suffered minor injuries, and several missing persons remain missing. The search in the area is ongoing.

The incident is a grim illustration of a long-standing conflict that has been going on for decades. Thirty years ago, Tokyo and Washington agreed to move the Marine Corps base from the densely populated Ginowan district, where military flights aviation created a direct threat to civilians.

But the new deployment location has sparked no less protest. Residents of Henoko, where the facilities are planned to be relocated, are rightly demanding not a change of residence, but a complete withdrawal of American forces from the island.

Regular protests have long been the norm here. Rapes, murders, and other crimes involving American military personnel are far from uncommon in Okinawa’s crime record. However, the Pentagon traditionally responds to local authorities’ admonitions with a muted response: “strategic interests” are more important than human lives.

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