Okinawa governor wants discipline for US military in Japan after murder linked to Marine

TOKYO (AP) — The governor of Okinawa demanded Wednesday that Japan’s central government do more to ensure effective discipline among U.S. service members on the southern island following the arrest of a U.S. Marine on accusations that he robbed and killed a local woman.

Gov. Genta Koja, in Tokyo for the first time since taking office a week ago, conveyed Okinawa’s outrage in his meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, asking her government for further efforts to reduce the burden of hosting U.S. 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 in a guest room at the Prime Minister’s Office packed with reporters.

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

People in Okinawa have long opposed the heavy U.S. military presence on the island and complained about noise, pollution and crime related to American bases, though some have come to see its strategic value due to what is widely viewed as a growing threat from China.

Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, a 20-year-old Ohio native belonging to the 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.

Takaichi said she regretted the “heinous crime” and shared the outrage. Noting the new disciplinary measures announced by the U.S. military Tuesday, Takaichi said she expected the American government to take subsequent steps.

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

Hours earlier, the U.S. military in Okinawa announced a 48-hour pause of all military operations for training through noon on Friday, as well as restricting the ability of troops to leave their base and prohibiting consumption of alcohol.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, wrote in a letter posted Tuesday on X that episodes like these “demand we pause for reflection” and that serving on the Japanese island “comes with responsibility.”

U.S. troops on Okinawa will be under a curfew from midnight to 5 a.m. for 30 days following the two-day training period, Watson said.

Koja said he appreciated prompt response from the Japanese and U.S. governments to the murder case “as a sign they both took the case seriously.”

However, he will need to see details of the ongoing training, he said, and requested the Japanese involvement to make U.S. disciplinary measures more effective.

A majority of the more than 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security agreement are based on the island.

Earlier Monday, Koja made the same request in his meeting with Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

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Associated Press writers Ben Finley and Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.