Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has lodged a protest with the United States following the arrest of a US Marine accused of robbing and killing a Japanese woman in Okinawa.
Police said Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, allegedly killed Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in Naha, the capital of Japan’s southernmost prefecture, yesterday before taking her wallet and backpack.
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Lance Corporal Ballard has denied the allegations, according to police.
“The occurrence of such an extremely brutal and vicious incident is extremely regrettable,” Ms Takaichi said in a statement.
Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi described the incident as unacceptable and said he was “deeply outraged”, comments carried by national broadcaster NHK reported.
The US embassy and the Marine Corps offered their condolences and said they were cooperating with Japanese authorities in the investigation.
The Marines said the suspect, who is assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force and based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was being held in Japanese custody.
“The Marine Corps takes these allegations very seriously and expects every Marine to adhere to the highest standards of behaviour,” it said in a statement.
Most of the 18,000 US Marines stationed in Japan are based in Okinawa, which remained under US control from the end of World War II until 1972.
Their presence has long fueled local resentment over noise, aircraft crashes and the behaviour of military personnel.
Mass protests followed the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three US servicemen.
Yesterday’s incident could further complicate Ms Takaichi’s efforts to move some Marines from the crowded Futenma air base to a more remote facility at Henoko. Opponents are calling for the troops to leave the prefecture altogether.
Okinawa, located just 100km from Taiwan at its nearest point, is regarded by Japan and the US as strategically important to deterring potential military aggression by China.
