TOKYO - Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Monday voiced Japan's strong protest over the suspected robbery and murder of a local woman in Okinawa by a U.S. Marine, calling on the United States to fully cooperate with the investigation and enforce strict discipline among its personnel.
In an address to parliament ahead of her policy speech opening an extraordinary Diet session, Takaichi called it a "heinous crime" that is "extremely regrettable." She urged Washington to prevent similar cases.
Tokyo has lodged protests with the United States at various levels amid outrage over the case. Police said Sunday that Devin Ballard, a 20-year-old U.S. Marine stationed in the southern prefecture, had been arrested on suspicion of robbing and murdering local woman Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in the prefectural capital Naha on Saturday.
Okinawa police on Monday referred him to prosecutors.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, who also serves as minister in charge of mitigating the impact of U.S. forces in Okinawa, told a press conference earlier Monday, "Japan and the United States will work together to thoroughly prevent a recurrence."
Past crimes involving U.S. service members have angered residents of Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military installations in Japan.
Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja summoned Japanese and U.S. officials over the latest case on Monday, lodging a protest with Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, the U.S. military's Okinawa area coordinator, and Andrew Ou, principal officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Okinawa.
Koja told them the case is "absolutely unacceptable" and that "efforts to enforce discipline among U.S. military personnel and provide human rights education are not working."
Watson expressed "heartfelt sympathies" for the victim's family and friends, but when asked by reporters why he had not apologized, he said he was "not going to comment on an ongoing investigation."
Koja also called for a review of the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement in a meeting with Masaru Murai, head of the Japanese Defense Ministry's Okinawa Defense Bureau, and Masahiko Kiya, the Foreign Ministry's ambassador in charge of Okinawan affairs.
Under the agreement, U.S. authorities generally hold suspects they have detained until indictment, while those arrested by Japanese authorities remain in Japanese custody.
Ballard was arrested off base by the Okinawa prefectural police.
A meeting between Koja and Takaichi is being arranged for Wednesday in Tokyo, according to government sources. Koja took office last week after winning the gubernatorial race with the backing of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Numerous crimes against women and girls involving U.S. servicemen have been reported in the prefecture over the years, including several in recent years.
In 1995, the rape of a schoolgirl by three U.S. servicemen sparked public anger that helped spur a 1996 agreement to return the land used for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, a transfer that has yet to be completed.
In 2018, a life sentence was upheld for a former U.S. Marine who raped and murdered a 20-year-old woman in Okinawa in 2016, while in February this year, the Supreme Court upheld a five-year sentence for an airman who kidnapped and sexually assaulted a girl under 16 in 2023.
On Sunday, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass and lodged a "strong protest" over the latest case, while Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi separately protested to Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost, commander of U.S. Forces Japan, in Tokyo.
Glass vowed full U.S. cooperation with Japanese authorities in their investigation, adding that the United States would do everything it could to prevent similar cases, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
Police said Sunday that Ballard denies the allegations.
