NORFOLK, Va. — The Navy is telling its leaders around the world to work harder on preventing sexual assaults by sailors after two enlisted men were arrested in Japan on rape charges, inflaming tensions with a critical ally in the region.

The alleged rape was reported Oct. 16 in Okinawa, leading to an uproar on the island and a sharp rebuke from the Japanese government. According to Japanese media, the sailors had been drinking before they attacked the woman, in her 20s, who was on her way home before dawn.