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Japanese Prime Minister lodges protest with U.S. following killing in Okinawa.
Economy
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi lodged a protest with the United States on Sunday after a U.S.
Marine was arrested on suspicion of robbing and murdering a Japanese woman in Okinawa.
Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, is suspected of killing 39-year-old Anna Yagi at a hotel in Naha—the capital of Okinawa Prefecture—on Saturday, as well as stealing her purse and backpack, Japanese police reported. Ballard denies involvement.
Takaichi described the incident as "extremely brutal and inhumane" and stated that the Japanese government had lodged a strong protest with the U.S.
Tokyo is seeking full cooperation from the U.S. side in the investigation, stricter discipline among U.S. military personnel, and measures to prevent similar incidents.
The U.S. Embassy and the Marine Corps expressed their condolences and stated their readiness to cooperate with Japanese authorities.
The Marine Corps confirmed that Ballard—assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force and based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma—remains in the custody of Japanese authorities. Command officials stated that they take the allegations seriously and expect Marines to uphold high standards of conduct.
The majority of the approximately 18,000 U.S. Marines stationed in Japan are based in Okinawa. The U.S. military presence has repeatedly sparked discontent among some local residents due to aircraft noise, crashes, and the behavior of military personnel. The arrest could heighten pressure regarding long-standing tensions over U.S. bases in Okinawa. In 1995, the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three U.S. servicemen sparked mass protests.
This latest incident could also complicate efforts to relocate some Marine Corps units from the densely populated Futenma Air Station to a facility in Henoko. Opponents of the plan are demanding the complete withdrawal of troops from Okinawa.
Okinawa’s proximity to Taiwan gives the prefecture strategic importance for both Tokyo and Washington in the context of their efforts to deter potential Chinese military aggression in the region.