A US Marine’s arrest for allegedly murdering a woman in Okinawa has sparked public outrage across Japan, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi calling it a “heinous crime” that demands accountability.
Police arrested the Marine on Sunday after finding a 39-year-old woman dead at a hotel in Naha city. Investigators suspect the serviceman killed the woman and stole her wallet.
The case has reignited long-standing tensions over the heavy US military presence on Okinawa, which hosts about 70% of American military facilities in Japan despite making up less than 1% of the country’s land area.
Government demands action
Takaichi told lawmakers on Monday that Japan has lodged a strong protest with Washington, demanding “full cooperation with the investigation” and “strict discipline among US military personnel.”
“The occurrence of such a heinous crime is extremely regrettable,” the prime minister said.
Chief cabinet secretary Minoru Kihara said the government will work with the United States to “thoroughly make sure there will be no recurrence, and reduce burdens on local residents.”
Japan’s foreign affairs and defence ministers immediately summoned senior American officials after news of the arrest broke, conveying their “extreme disappointment” and lodging formal protests.
Residents hold protest rally
About 100 people gathered in Naha on Sunday, holding placards stating their “strong protest” against the murder, local media reported.
Okinawa’s new governor Genta Koja (42) said the “robbery-murder” had “hugely shocked residents here who are forced to live side by side with the bases, and instilled new fear in them.”
“I am infuriated,” Koja told reporters on Sunday.
The governor said the incident shows US efforts to “educate soldiers and improve their behaviour have not been functioning at all.” He plans to travel to Tokyo soon to lodge a direct protest with top government officials, including the prime minister.
Pattern of violence
Crimes by US personnel – including rapes, assaults, hit-and-run incidents and drunk-driving accidents – have long sparked protests on the island.
Last year, a Japanese court sentenced a US Marine to seven years in prison for choking and attempting to rape a woman in her 20s.
In 2017, a former US Marine and civilian military base worker received a life sentence for raping and murdering a local woman in Okinawa.
The latest incident comes just weeks after Koja won election as governor, ending eight years of leadership that had pushed for moving a major US base off the island entirely. Koja accepts keeping the US Marine Corps’ Futenma air base on Okinawa, but supports relocating it to a less populated area.
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