Ambassador promises cooperation after woman killed on island where bases used by US forces have been long contentious.
Japan has summoned the United States ambassador after an American Marine was arrested on suspicion of robbing and killing a woman.
US Ambassador to Japan George Glass pledged “full cooperation” on Sunday. Lance-Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard is accused of killing 39-year-old Anna Yagi on the southern island of Okinawa, where thousands of US servicemen are stationed.
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“The occurrence of such an extremely brutal and heinous incident is a matter of profound regret,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wrote on social media. “As the Government of Japan, we have lodged a strong protest with the US side, while firmly demanding maximum cooperation with the investigation.”
Glass said the US “confirmed our policy of providing full cooperation with the investigation” while sharing his condolences on social media. The 20-year-old Marine has denied the charges.
According to local Japanese media, CCTV footage showed a non-Japanese man going into a hotel room with the Japanese woman in the city of Naha. Later on, the footage showed the man leaving by himself with what appears to be the woman’s belongings, the AFP news agency reported.
“Incidents and accidents involving US military personnel cause significant anxiety to the local community and must never occur,” Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi wrote on social media.
The Kyodo News agency, quoting police, reported that the woman’s body was found in her hotel room and she appeared to have been strangled.
“The case deals a major shock and adds fear to the Okinawans who have already been forced to live next to US bases,” newly elected Okinawa Governor Genta Koja told reporters. “It is absolutely unforgivable, and we are outraged.”
“I must say, discipline and troop education are not working at all,” Koja said, referring to the US military’s measures taken in response to past criminal cases.
About 54,000 US military personnel, including 18,000 Marines, are stationed in Japan. The majority of these forces are based in Okinawa, a Japanese island that came under US administrative control at the end of World War II and was returned to Japan in 1972.
Since the handover, about 6,000 US military personnel have been arrested in Japan, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
The Futenma base, which is located in a densely populated area in central Okinawa, has been a sore spot for decades for locals who have demanded that it be moved.
The central government approved construction to relocate the base to Henoko on Okinawa’s eastern coast. However, the project has faced delays.
Repeated occurrences of sexual crimes and their delayed disclosures have also angered Okinawans.
