Okinawa, Japan in 2025: 20 Courts-Martial, Year in Review
Okinawa, Japan tried 20 courts-martial in 2025, and only 20% of them were contested, compared with 37% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2025. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 4 months across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Okinawa, Japan › 2025
Short answer: Okinawa, Japan tried 20 courts-martial in 2025, and only 20% of them were contested, compared with 37% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2025. The median confinement was 6 months, compared with 4 months across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Most of the Accused Pleaded Guilty
Of the 20 cases, 16 ended in a guilty plea and 4 were contested. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share of 20% was lower than the 37% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Of the 4 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal.
Conspiracy and the General Article
Every record lists the charges. Article 134 (general article) was the most common charge, in 6 cases (30%), compared with 21% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) followed in 5 cases (25%), about the same as the 24% elsewhere.
Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 4 cases, or 20%, compared with 6% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 82 (soliciting), Article 114 (endangerment offenses), and Article 115 (communicating threats) each appeared in 2 cases (10%). One case can count under several articles.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 30% | 21% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 5 | 25% | 24% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 4 | 20% | 6% |
| Art. 82 Soliciting | 2 | 10% | 2% |
| Art. 114 Endangerment offenses | 2 | 10% | 2% |
| Art. 115 Communicating threats | 2 | 10% | 3% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 2 | 10% | 8% |
| Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 1 | 5% | 6% |
Comparison With Quantico and Norfolk
Quantico, Virginia tried 22 cases in 2025 and Norfolk, Virginia tried 31. The contested share was 55% at Quantico and 23% at Norfolk, both higher than the 20% at Okinawa.
The median confinement was 8 months at Quantico and 1 year at Norfolk, both longer than the 6 months at Okinawa. Okinawa and Quantico had the same punitive discharge rate, 53%. Norfolk's was 46%.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okinawa, Japan | 20 | 20% | 2 of 4 | 6 months | 53% |
| Quantico, Virginia | 22 | 55% | 3 of 12 | 8 months | 53% |
| Norfolk, Virginia | 31 | 23% | 0 of 7 | 1 year | 46% |
Confinement and Discharges
There were 18 convictions, and 67% of them included confinement. The median confinement was 6 months. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 1.5 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
A punitive discharge followed 53% of enlisted convictions: 4 bad-conduct discharges and 5 dishonorable discharges. Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the share was 46%. 1 officer or warrant officer was convicted and was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Rank and Court Level
The accused included 15 junior enlisted members, 4 NCOs, and 1 officer. This group was more junior than all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2025.
General courts-martial made up 7 of the 20 cases (35%), and special courts-martial made up the rest. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Law Changes and Record Limits
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both rules turn on the offense date, which the records do not give, so 2025 trials can include cases under the old rules.
The records also do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they leave out nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Okinawa, Japan with a trial date in 2025 (20 cases).
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)
- By Year (hub)
- What Okinawa, Japan Tried in 2024 (previous / next)
- Inside 50 Courts-Martial at Okinawa, Japan, 2024–2026 (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2015
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2017
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2018
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2020
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2021
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Okinawa, Japan, 2025
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.