Okinawa governor urges Japan action after US Marine arrested over killing

The governor of Okinawa has demanded that Japan’s central government do more to ensure effective discipline among United States service members on the southern island following the arrest of a US Marine on accusations that he robbed and murdered a local woman.

Governor Genta Koja, in Tokyo for the first time since taking office a week ago, conveyed on Wednesday Okinawa’s outrage in his meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, asking her government for further efforts to reduce the burden of hosting US military bases on the small island.

“Okinawa has requested preventive measures every time similar crimes were repeated in past, and now we have this case again,” Koja told Takaichi at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday.

“I must say past disciplinary measures and human rights education implemented by the US military have not worked at all,” Koja said.

People in Okinawa have long opposed the heavy US military presence on the island and complained about noise, pollution and crime related to bases used by US forces.

Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of strangling Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel and stealing her wallet and backpack. He has denied the allegations, according to Japanese media.

The US military in Okinawa earlier announced a 48-hour pause of all military operations for training through Friday, as well as restrictions on the ability of troops to leave their base and a ban on the consumption of alcohol.

Benjamin T Watson, the Okinawa area coordinator and commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force, said that the 48-hour period would give commanders the time to lead training with all service members on “standards, discipline, and our responsibilities as members of the Okinawan community”.

The lieutenant general, the most senior US military figure on Okinawa, also announced a 30-day “period of reflection” beginning Friday.

“During this period, we will implement a curfew in which liberty will expire at 2400 for all hands, meaning you must be back on base in your assigned quarters or at your off-base domicile from midnight to 0500,” Watson said.

Takaichi said she regretted the “heinous crime” and shared the outrage.

Noting the new disciplinary measures announced by the US military, Takaichi said she expected the US government to take subsequent steps.

Japan and the US will discuss “how to implement preventive measures that are effective”, she said.

The presence of US troops in Okinawa has repeatedly stirred resentment among residents over issues such as noise, aircraft crashes and the conduct ‌‌of personnel.

Last year, a Japanese court sentenced a US Marine convicted of choking and attempting to rape a woman in her 20s to seven years in prison.

In 2017, a former US Marine and civilian military base worker was sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a local woman in Okinawa.

The same year, US Forces Japan banned all personnel from consuming alcohol after an intoxicated US Marine crashed his vehicle into a mini-truck, killing its 61-year-old local driver.