Japan Demands US Discipline After Okinawa Murder Case
“Japan and the United States will work together to thoroughly prevent a recurrence,” Japan’s top government spokesman, Minoru Kihara, told reporters in Tokyo.
The remarks followed the arrest on Sunday of US Marine Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, by Japanese police over allegations that he robbed and killed a local woman in Okinawa. The southern prefecture hosts the bulk of the roughly 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan under the countries’ defense treaty.
Police arrested Ballard a day after Anna Yagi, 39, was allegedly killed at a hotel in Naha, the Okinawa prefectural capital.
Ballard was referred to prosecutors on Monday and has denied the allegations, according to Japanese media.
The case sparked anger in Okinawa and elsewhere, prompting Japan’s foreign and defense ministries to summon the US ambassador and the commander of US Forces Japan.
About 100 people demonstrated outside the Okinawa prefectural government building on Sunday, according to media.
“How much longer do we have to bear all of this?" the protesters asked.
Kihara said Tokyo had lodged protests with Washington at “various levels.” He also oversees efforts to reduce the impact of US military forces in Okinawa, where crimes involving American service members have fueled longstanding local resentment.
Tokyo will "continue to urge the US side to thoroughly enforce discipline” among US troops stationed in Japan, Kihara said.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described the incident as "extremely regrettable" and issued a "strong protest" to the United States.
Japan has demanded "full cooperation" from Washington in the investigation and called for "strict discipline among US military personnel" to prevent similar incidents, Takaichi told parliament on Monday.
A woman in her 40s who joined Sunday’s demonstration questioned the circumstances surrounding the alleged killing.
“I feel it's a contradiction that a serviceman stationed at a US military base in Okinawa to protect Japan has killed a civilian.”
US Ambassador to Japan George Edward Glass said he was discussing the case with US military commanders “about how we continue to hold our American service members to the very highest levels of discipline and integrity.”
Glass also said he had spoken with Okinawa-based Marine Air Ground Task Force commander Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson about "our next steps in strengthening that bond of trust with our Japanese partners and base-hosting communities," according to a statement posted on the US social media platform X.
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