Okinawa, Japan, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 100 Cases
From 2019–2023, 100 courts-martial at Okinawa, Japan appear in the records. The median adjudged confinement was 1 year, compared with 6 months across all Navy and Marine Corps cases.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › By Installation › Okinawa, Japan › 2019–2023
Short answer: From 2019–2023, 100 courts-martial at Okinawa, Japan appear in the records. The median adjudged confinement was 1 year, compared with 6 months across all Navy and Marine Corps cases. 1 of 13 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (8%), compared with 29% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Longer Sentences Than the Service as a Whole
Of 88 convictions, 77 included confinement. The median confinement was 1 year, compared with 6 months across all Navy and Marine Corps cases. A quarter of the sentences were 2.3 years or more.
39 of the 88 convictions (44%) carried more than one year, compared with 24% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Sentences of more than 1 year but under 5 years were 35% of convictions here and 19% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. Sentences of 5 years or more were 9%, compared with 5%. Shorter sentences were less common here. Sentences under 6 months were 27%, compared with 35%. No confinement was 12%, compared with 17%.
These figures are adjudged sentences: what the court announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case. Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement. A special court-martial is capped at one year.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 11 | 12% | 17% |
| Under 6 months | 24 | 27% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 14 | 16% | 24% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 31 | 35% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 8 | 9% | 5% |
Sex Offense Charges Were More Common
The charge lists cover 95 of the 100 cases. A case that charges several articles counts under each one. Article 120b, which covers sexual abuse of a child, appeared in 18% of cases here, compared with 7% Navy and Marine Corps-wide. For Article 120, sexual assault, the shares were 22% here and 14% service-wide. The most common charge was Article 128, assault, in 38% of cases.
Some other common military charges appeared less often. Article 112a, the drug article, was charged in 7% of Okinawa cases, compared with 25% service-wide. Article 92, orders violations, was charged in 8%, compared with 18%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 36 | 38% | 31% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 21 | 22% | 14% |
| Art. 134 General article | 20 | 21% | 18% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 17 | 18% | 7% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 15 | 16% | 9% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 9 | 9% | 8% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 9 | 9% | 9% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 8 | 8% | 18% |
How Often Were Cases Contested, and How Did They End?
A case counts as contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. A plea is listed in 48 of the 100 records. Among them, 13 were not-guilty or mixed pleas and 35 were guilty pleas, so 27% were contested. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the contested share was 31%.
Of the 13 contested cases that reached a verdict, 1 ended in a full acquittal. 3 more were partial acquittals: a conviction on some charges and an acquittal on others. The 8% full-acquittal rate is lower than the 29% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Which Charges Ended in Conviction?
Article 134, the general article, ended in a conviction on that article in 20 of 20 cases. Article 120b did so in 17 of 17. Article 128 assault ended in a conviction on that article in 33 of 36 cases. Article 120 did so in 17 of 21, the lowest share among these charges.
Median confinement differed by charge. When the conviction included Article 120b, the median was 4 years. It was 2.3 years for Article 120, 2.2 years for Article 134, and 1.1 years for Article 128. One case can include several of these charges, so the rows overlap.
Guilty pleas also varied by charge. Of 16 Article 134 cases with a plea recorded, 14 ended in a guilty plea (88%), the most among the top charges. Of 16 Article 128 cases with a plea recorded, 13 ended in a guilty plea (81%). The records give no reason for any plea.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 36 | 33 (92%) | 1.1 years |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 21 | 17 (81%) | 2.3 years |
| Art. 134 General article | 20 | 20 (100%) | 2.2 years |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 17 | 17 (100%) | 4 years |
Punitive Discharges for Enlisted Members
A punitive discharge means a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member, or a dismissal for an officer. Of 86 enlisted members convicted here, 59 received one (69%). That is more often than in the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole (63%). Of those 59, 32 were dishonorable discharges.
2 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in these records, and 0 were dismissed. Even without a punitive discharge, a member can be administratively separated later. Those separations are not in these records.
Court Level and Rank
General courts-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. They tried 55 of the 100 cases (55%), compared with 44% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 2 years in the 55 general courts-martial and 4 months in the 45 special courts-martial.
The accused were 60 junior enlisted members, 27 NCOs, and 2 officers. That group is more junior than in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Compared With 2017–2018
The earlier period is 2017–2018, the 2 years with cases on record. Okinawa had 70 cases then, about 35 a year. Since then it has had about 20 a year, counting full years only. By year, the later period had 25 cases in 2019, 23 in 2020, 18 in 2021, 18 in 2022, and 16 in 2023. The 100 cases are 5% of all 1,991 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years.
In 2019–2023, the median confinement was 1 year, compared with 2 years in 2017–2018. In the later period, 69% of convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge, compared with 85% earlier. General courts-martial were 55% of cases, compared with 66% earlier. With groups this small, a few cases can change a figure, so these numbers show direction, not exact size.
| 2017–2018 | 2019–2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 70 | 100 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 0 of 4 | 27% |
| Convictions with confinement | 90% | 88% |
| Median confinement | 2 years | 1 year |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 85% | 69% |
| General courts-martial | 66% | 55% |
Compared With Similar Installations
Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay and Jacksonville, Florida tried a similar number of Navy and Marine Corps cases in the same years. Okinawa and Kaneohe Bay had similar results. Their contested shares were 27% and 26%. Their median confinement was 1 year and 11 months. Their punitive discharge rates were 69% and 68%. Jacksonville was different: 41% of cases were contested, 16 of 31 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal, and the median confinement was 4 months.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okinawa, Japan | 100 | 27% | 1 of 13 | 1 year | 69% |
| Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay | 78 | 26% | 0 of 11 | 11 months | 68% |
| Jacksonville, Florida | 77 | 41% | 16 of 31 | 4 months | 40% |
What These Records Cannot Show
The data lists trial dates, not offense dates. It does not show the evidence or the terms of any plea agreement. Nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations are not included. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so the plea counts use only the records that list one.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial in the data tried at Okinawa, Japan with a trial date in 2019–2023 (100 cases), compared with all 1,991 Navy and Marine Corps trials in those years. Dates are trial dates.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Okinawa, Japan: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Installation (hub)
- Inside 70 Courts-Martial at Okinawa, Japan, 2017–2018 (another period)
- Inside 50 Courts-Martial at Okinawa, Japan, 2024–2026 (another period)
- What Was Tried at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, 2019–2023? 78 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- What Was Tried at Jacksonville, Florida, 2019–2023? 77 Courts-Martial (same years, similar size)
- Did Assault Cases at Okinawa, Japan Change After 2019?
- Sexual Assault Cases at Okinawa, Japan: 2017–2018 vs. 2019–2023
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Okinawa, Japan, 2019–2023
Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the Court-Martial Characters membership.
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.