The Yumiko-chan incident was the

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

and murder of five-year-old Japanese girl Yumiko Nagayama (sometimes reported as Yumiko Arakaki) by American soldier Sergeant Isaac J. Hurt in

Kadena, Okinawa is a town located in Nakagami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of October 2016, the town had an estimated population of 13,671 and a density of 910 persons per km². The total area is . Approximately 85% of the town is controlled by th ...

on September 4, 1955. Nagayama's body was found near

Kadena Air Base (IATA: DNA, ICAO: RODN) is a highly strategic United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is often referred to as the "Keystone of the Pacific" because of its highl ...

during the U.S. occupation of Okinawa, and an investigation led to the conviction of 31-year-old Sergeant Hurt on charges of murder, rape, and kidnapping. The Yumiko-chan Incident caused

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

outrage in Okinawa and contributed to the first major Okinawan protests against the U.S. occupation and military presence.

Preceding events

Hurt, who was born in Kentucky, had previously served 11 months in jail for assault and attempted rape in Michigan.

Incident

On September 4, 1955, the

mutilated Mutilation or maiming (from the Latin: ''mutilus'') refers to severe damage to the body that has a ruinous effect on an individual's quality of life. It can also refer to alterations that render something inferior, ugly, dysfunctional, or imper ...

body of a young girl was discovered in a landfill belonging to the

, an installation of the Far East Command in Kadena,

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, at the time governed by the

United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands The was the civil administration government in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan (centered on Okinawa Island), replacing the United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands (itself created at the conclusion of World War II) in 1950, and funct ...

. The girl was found to have been

d and her body was described as if it had been cut up with a sharp knife from the

abdominal The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso ...

region to the

bowel The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...

. The girl was identified as Yumiko Nagayama (sometimes reported as Yumiko Arakaki), a five-year-old

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...

student from Ishikawa (now part of the city of

Uruma is a Cities of Japan, city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The modern city of Uruma was established on April 1, 2005, when the cities of Gushikawa, Okinawa, Gushikawa and Ishikawa, Okinawa, Ishikawa were merged with the towns of Katsuren, ...

) who had been reported missing at about 8 p.m when she did not come home from playing outdoors. When a brown hair was discovered on Nagayama's body, investigators suspected that the perpetrator was foreign, prompting a joint investigation by the U.S. military and the Ryukyu Police, the civilian police agency in Okinawa at the time. The investigation suggested that Nagayama was abducted at an Eisa performance where eyewitnesses claimed to have seen her leave with a

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

man, indicating that the perpetrator was a U.S. serviceman. An indictment was submitted against Sergeant Isaac J. Hurt (sometimes incorrectly reported as Isaac J. Hart) of B Battalion, 32nd Artillery Division, on charges of murder, rape and kidnapping.

Reaction

News of Nagayama's violent rape and murder by a U.S. serviceman provoked outrage among Okinawans, who were further angered by the fact that due to

extraterritoriality In international law, extraterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Historically, this primarily applied to individuals, as jurisdiction was usually cl ...

laws, Nagayama's alleged rapist and murderer would not undergo an Okinawan trial, but rather a U.S. military court-martial. A Rally for Protection of Children was held in Okinawa and the Association for Protection of Children was formed with this incident, and many Okinawans rallied in support of the cause. Okinawans demanded that the U.S. military "Punish offenders of this kind of case with the death penalty without leniency regardless of nationality or ethnicity." Okinawans demanded for the U.S. to have Hurt tried in a civilian court and that the trial be publicly broadcast, but these requests were declined.

Trial

Sergeant Isaac J. Hurt was brought to trial on charges of rape and murder by a U.S. court-martial in Okinawa. He was tried just 14 days after U.S. marine Raymond Parker was sentenced to life in prison for raping a 9-year-old Okinawa girl. Hurt insisted on his innocence, but his court martial lasted 13 days and he was convicted after a deliberation of less than an hour, and

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. While it was standard procedure, Hurt was returned to the U.S. without the Okinawan public being informed. After sentencing, multiple politicians jumped to his defense. Representative Carl D. Perkins discussed concerns from his district where Hurt "comes from" that "something could be done about" about the death sentence. Senator

Thruston Ballard Morton Thruston Ballard Morton (August 19, 1907 – August 14, 1982) was an American politician. A Republican, Morton represented Kentucky in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Early life Morton was born on August 19, 1907, ...

urged a commutation, saying "The conviction rests upon circumstantial evidence and there exists some doubt concerning the guilt or innocence of the accused." Senator

John Sherman Cooper John Sherman Cooper (August 23, 1901 – February 21, 1991) was an American politician, jurist, and diplomat from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He served three non-consecutive, partial terms in the United States Senate before being elect ...

pleaded for the case to be reviewed more carefully. Then Senate Majority Leader

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

and Senator

Ralph Yarborough Ralph Webster Yarborough (June 8, 1903 – January 27, 1996) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a Texas Democratic politician who served in the United States Senate from 1957 to 1971 and was a leader of the progressive wing of his p ...

asked a law firm to help with Hurt's appeals. In May 1959, U.S. Army Secretary Wilber M. Brucker recommended that Hurt's death sentence be carried out. "I have studied this case carefully," he said. "And I am convinced of the guilt of the accused." Pointing to his prior convictions and his false statements on his enlistment papers, Brucker said Hunt had a history of being both a rapist and a liar. However, in 1960, in response to increasing pressure, Hunt's sentence was reduced to 45 years - without the possibility of parole - by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1960.

Release from prison

Following the commutation of his death sentence, Hurt was transferred to USP Leavenworth where he suffered a stroke in 1969. He wrote letters to Senators and members of the U.S. government requesting to be granted parole or his case to be dismissed. In one letter, he alleged, “I was sacrificed to appease the dissident political elements who were demanding an end to American mil. ilitaryOccupation.” In January 1977,

President Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

granted Hurt’s request to be made eligible for parole, and he was released from prison later that year. Following his release, Hurt found work as a night watchman, and got married in 1981. On August 6, 1984, he died at a

Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...

hospital in Ohio State. Hurt's grave in Reading Cemetery, Hamilton County, Ohio State, is marked with a headstone, provided by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, noting his service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Aftermath

The Yumiko-chan Incident caused an increase in Okinawan opposition against the

and ten years of U.S. military occupation in Okinawa, and led to further debate over the continued presence of U.S. forces in Japan. It was the springboard for the first serious, coordinated anti-U.S. military protests in Okinawa following the beginning of the occupation in 1945. On September 23, 2021, Okinawa Times reported about the release of Hurt and the

Department of Veterans' Affairs Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...

' provision of his grave marker, despite his conviction for rape and murder of a minor. Okinawan peace activists, including Suzuyo Takazato, expressed anger at the release and the U.S. government's decision to supply such a headstone.

References

{{Reflist, refs= ''The Okinawa Times'', Sept 10, 1955.{{fcn, date=April 2022 1955 murders in Japan 1955 in military history September 1955 events in Asia Child abuse resulting in death Child sexual abuse in Japan Deaths by blade weapons Events that led to courts-martial Japan–United States relations Murdered Japanese children 1950s in Okinawa People murdered in Japan Politics of Japan Rape in Japan Torture in Japan United States military scandals United States Armed Forces in Okinawa Prefecture United States Marine Corps in the 20th century Female murder victims Incidents of violence against girls