A United States jet fighter crashed near Okinawa
Prefecture (Japan), according to Japan's Crisscross News. The pilot ejected from the plane and survived. The F-15 is a costly jet, with estimates running around $40 million. U.S. military occupation of Okinawa has been a longstanding issue between the United States and Japan, since the U.S. occupied the territory since World War II. Okinawans speak a separate language and maintain a distinctive culture from mainland Japan. While the pilot's life was fortunately saved, the crash arrives at a time when the U.S. and Japan are reevaluating U.S. presence in the region. A brief, admittedly incomplete, analysis of the history and problems involving U.S. occupation of the islands can highlight the problematic nature of U.S. presence in the region. This is not an in-depth analysis of the crash, but rather, an attempt to analyze more deeply embedded problems before another, more calamitous tragedy takes place. A Wikipedia article notes (correctly):

In total, the region is just over 1,000 kilometers, but houses nearly 40,000 U.S. military personnel. The recent U.S. crash directs long-standing public attention to the occupation within Japan, although it was not as perilous as many incidents in the Prefecture. Japan and the United States are arranging a senior level working meeting, with reduction of troops as a focus.

The Japan Times writes:

This Air Station is accompanied by Kadena Air Base, Marine Core Base Camp Smedley, Camps Courtney, Foster, Hansen, Kinser, McTureus, Schwab, the Northern Training Area, Naha Military Port, Naval Facility White Beach, Torii Station, and a Naval Hospital. Most may assume that military expenditures fall completely upon the U.S. for its bases there.

However, the bases function off of what the Pentagon terms as "sympathy budget" or "host nation support". Put differently, Japan pays for the U.S. occupation of Okinawa, while Okinawan citizens are far less favorable about the presence in the region. Forty-five years after the end of World War II, the U.S. remains there, at the physical and fiscal expense of Okinawan taxpayers.
Many have questioned whether U.S. military presence in the area is necessary for protection of Japan or its containment.

Is Okinawa, as Chalmers Johnson claims, "Asia's Last Colony"? Johnson (who served for the U.S. Navy stationed in Japan) writes,

Okinawans' antagonistic relations with U.S. military personnel have been highlighted by a highly publicized case involving the rape and kidnapping of a twelve year old girl by three U.S. military personnel in 1995. While Okinawa was militarily significant during WWII and the Korean War, its utility since then is questionable at best.

Why is U.S. presence there viewed as highly problematic by many of the 1.3 million people living in these 454 mile islands? Unfortunately, the U.S. usually holds jurisdiction over military crimes there. The conservative Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper notes that U.S. servicemen

It is incredibly difficult to report rape for anyone, in any region of the world. This problem is accentuated by added cultural pressures Okinawan women experience to report rape at all. Since then, the Okinawan Women Act Against Military Violence movement has been formed. Tens of thousands of Okinawan native citizens have protested U.S. occupation of the territory. The American Peace Caravan writes,

The U.S. military has a history of environmental destruction (firing of uranium depleted bullets throughout the area), extensive noise pollution, and criminal acts against citizens in the region. Even worse, for the most part, regardless of circumstance, the U.S. is answerable only to itself. The survival of the pilot who crashed the F-15 is a blessing (postings on Okinawan and Japanese news reports on the incident by readers are often much less forgiving). As the U.S. resumes talks with Japan over its presence in the region, American citizens can be better informed about the scope, nature, and dimensions of U.S. occupation of Okinawa.