Okinawa Governor Genta Koja has denounced the killing of a local woman by a US Marine, demanding that Japan’s central government take stronger action.
Koja made the demands on Wednesday during his first official visit to Tokyo since taking office last month.
“Okinawa has requested preventive measures every time similar crimes were repeated in the past, and now we have this case again,” Koja told Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.
The governor delivered an even harsher rebuke, saying, “I must say past disciplinary measures and human rights education implemented by the US military have not worked at all.”
Koja also demanded further measures to reduce the burden imposed on Okinawa Prefecture by the extensive foreign military presence on the island.
He also met with pro-Trump Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, pressing them for effective measures against crimes committed by US military personnel.
The governor had earlier summoned senior US military officials and demanded effective preventive measures, telling them that he was “enraged by the loss of a precious life of an Okinawan resident.”
The latest case centers on 20-year-old Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, who is stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and was arrested after Japanese police linked him to the death of 39-year-old Anna Yagi.
Police said Yagi was found at a hotel in Naha early Saturday and appeared to have been strangled, while her wallet and backpack were also taken from the scene.
The killing has revived bitter memories of earlier crimes involving US military personnel, including the September 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three US servicemen, which triggered massive protests across the island.
Okinawa has also been shaken by other serious cases, including the 2016 rape and murder of 20-year-old Rina Shimabukuro by a former US Marine who worked as a civilian employee at a US military facility.
Public anger was renewed by a 2024 rape case involving a US service member, while the delayed disclosure of that case further intensified resentment among Okinawans.
The number of US military-related criminal cases recorded by Okinawa prefectural police rose to 101 last year from about 40 in 2020.
The latest figures came as people gathered in Naha, and Tokyo to protest the killing and demand the removal of US military bases from Okinawa.
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