TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Monday that Japan strongly protests the alleged robbery and murder of a woman in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa involving a US Marine.
Takaichi, speaking to parliament in Tokyo on the first day of an extraordinary Diet session ahead of a policy speech, said Japan has called for full US cooperation with the investigation and "strict discipline among US military personnel" to prevent a recurrence, Kyodo News reported.
On Monday, Devin Ballard, who was arrested over the alleged robbery and murder of local woman Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in the prefectural capital Naha in the early hours of Saturday, was sent to prosecutors, according to Okinawa police.
Ballard has denied the allegations, police have said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Monday that Japan will "continue to urge the US side to thoroughly enforce discipline."
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi summoned US Ambassador to Japan George Glass and commander of US Forces Japan Stephen Jost, respectively, to lodge strong protests, urging the US military to strengthen discipline and take thorough measures to prevent similar cases.
Okinawa residents expressed their outrage over the case on Sunday, Kyodo News reported.
Shusei Arakawa, a local resident, said the presence of US bases in Okinawa has led to various incidents and accidents, and that many local people have lost their lives since the US military was stationed there.
"This is not Okinawa's problem. It's the Japanese government's problem," said another resident, a man in his 50s. "These cases keep happening, yet the government has failed to take measures to address them."
In Uruma city, Okinawa, residents staged a protest, holding signs with slogans such as "Make Okinawa a place where people can live in peace," according to the report. One protester expressed concern, saying, "It may happen to my kids or me. You never know."
Crimes involving US military personnel stationed in Japan, including grave offenses such as murder, rape, and robbery, have long been a source of deep public concern.
Official statistics show that in 2025 alone, Okinawa prefectural police handled more than 100 criminal cases involving US service members and related personnel.
