Okinawa outrage renewed after US Marine charged with murder

For many Okinawa locals, the arrest of a US soldier accused of robbing and killing a woman in a hotel room has reignited decades of frustration over crimes involving US military personnel there. Honestly my first reaction was, 'Not again,' Ai Sato, a 52-year-old longtime resident of the island, told the BBC. Nothing has changed since I was a child. How many times are we going to repeat the same thing, create more victims, cause their families to suffer, and ultimately, cause the people of Okinawa to grieve?

Akemi Oshiro, a 62-year-old from Ginowan, shared similar sentiments. I know we shouldn't get used to terrible things like this, but because they keep happening, I've stopped being surprised, she said. Okinawa hosts the largest US military presence in Japan. It is home to several American bases and tens of thousands of troops.

US Marine Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, was arrested by Japanese police on Sunday. Police say an investigation is under way and that Ballard is in Japanese custody because the alleged crime was unrelated to official military duties. Whether a service member is acting in the performance of official duty can determine which country has primary jurisdiction. When Japan has jurisdiction but the suspect is under US custody, the American authorities can retain custody until Japan brings charges.

Ballard was assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force and stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan City. The Okinawa prefectural police say Anna Yagi, 39, was found dead early on 3 October in a hotel room in Naha. Security footage allegedly shows a man believed to be the suspect entering the hotel with the woman and leaving alone with her belongings. Local media, citing police, have reported that Yagi appeared to have been strangled with a cord. Some locals gathered to protest against the case on Sunday.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi registered an official protest with Washington. But residents such as Sato feel that is far from enough. I am deeply disappointed by the same kinds of government comments we have been hearing for decades — that they will protest or that they take the matter seriously, she said. I want Prime Minister Takaichi to call President Trump directly, someone with whom she has been emphasising a close relationship, and discuss concrete measures to prevent this from happening yet again.

Following news of the suspected murder, people across Japan have voiced their anger, with some 100 protesters gathering in both Naha and Tokyo. Others took to social media to express their outrage and demand justice. Enough is enough, one user wrote.

Over the past few years, a number of accidents and crimes have led to growing local opposition to the US presence on the island. The 2016 rape and murder of a 20-year-old local woman saw tens of thousands of protesters demonstrate against the heavy American presence there. A former US Marine subsequently received a life sentence for the crime.

The US currently has about 55,000 military personnel stationed in Japan, with the heaviest concentration based on the tropical island prefecture. Okinawa is one of the country's smallest prefectures by size, yet 70% of the land used exclusively by the US military in Japan is located there. In 1972, Okinawa was returned to Japanese control after United States forces occupied the islands at the end of the Second World War. Since then, there have been 6,409 arrests for criminal offences related to US military personnel, according to the Okinawa Prefectural Government.

Locals say the significant American presence has stirred resentment over a range of issues, from crimes including rapes, assaults and drunk-driving accidents to disturbances such as noise and aircraft crashes. In 1995, three US servicemen abducted, beat and raped a 12-year-old schoolgirl as she walked home from a stationery store. In 2025, a US Marine was convicted of choking and sexually assaulting a Japanese woman.

Even 80 years after the war, Okinawa, where we live, is a place that is so unnerving, Hitomi Miyagi, a 48-year-old mother of two boys, told the BBC. We will not stop raising our voices, hoping for an Okinawa where we can live in peace.