Yumiko-chan Incident

Date: September 4, 1955 • Location: Okinawa, Japan

A white U.S. soldier raped and murdered a five-year-old local girl in Kadena, Okinawa.

The Yumiko-chan incident was the rape and murder of five-year-old Japanese girl Yumiko Nagayama, sometimes reported as Yumiko Arakaki, by U.S. soldier ‌Sergeant Isaac J. Hurt in Kadena, Okinawa, on 4 September 1955. Nagayama's body was found near Kadena Air Base during the U.S. occupation of Okinawa. 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 outrage in Okinawa and contributed to the first major Okinawan protests against the U.S. occupation and military presence.