Koza riot: After a series of hit-and-runs and other vehicular incidents involving American service personnel, roughly 5,000 Okinawans take to the streets, clashing with American law enforcement in protest against the U.S. occupation of Okinawa.

The Koza riot was a violent and spontaneous protest against the US military presence in Japan on the night of December 20, 1970 and into the morning of the following day in Koza, now part of the city of Okinawa. Roughly 5,000 Okinawans clashed with roughly 700 US military police officers in an…