The US military based in Japan’s Okinawa is introducing a month-long nightly curfew following the arrest of a Marine for allegedly robbing and murdering a local woman.
Starting Friday, the curfew will run from midnight until 5am local time, according to Lieutenant General Benjamin Watson, the Okinawa area coordinator for US Forces Japan.
Before that, US military personnel in Okinawa will take part in a 48-hour operational pause beginning at noon on Wednesday. In that time, they will get “no off-base liberty, including a complete prohibition on alcohol consumption on or off base”.
Lt General Watson said the measures were meant to reinforce discipline across the American military community following the suspected murder.
“Incidents like this demand we pause for reflection,” he said. “Discipline is the individual and collective commitment to make sound decisions, look after one another, and always do what is right.”
The restrictions follow the arrest of Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, a US Marine based in Okinawa. Japanese police suspect him of robbing and killing Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in Naha on Saturday.
Kyodo News, citing local police, said the woman’s body was found in her hotel room and she was likely strangled to death.
Ballard was arrested when a patrolling officer found him walking later on Saturday in an entertainment district in Okinawa City, about 25km northeast of Naha.
The suspected murder triggered angry demonstrations in Okinawa, which is home to most of the American troops based in Japan and has long drawn opposition to the presence of the US military.
“I’m outraged and flabbergasted to hear that a suspect came to the entertainment area,” Kenji Higa, a resident of Okinawa City who attended the protest, said.
The incident also renewed scrutiny of the legal arrangements governing US personnel stationed in Japan.
Okinawa governor Genta Koja met defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi in Tokyo on Wednesday.
“Every time an incident occurs, we call for measures to prevent a recurrence. I can’t help but say that the US military’s enforcement of discipline and human rights education are not functioning at all,” he said.
Koizumi said the government would work with the US to establish measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Okinawa was under American occupation from the end of World War II until 1972. Today, it hosts almost 70 per cent of the American military’s facilities and most of its 50,000 soldiers stationed in Japan.
Prime minister Sanae Takaichi lodged a strong protest with the US government in the wake of the suspected murder, and demanded tighter discipline for American troops stationed in the country.
“The occurrence of such an extremely brutal and vicious incident is extremely regrettable,” she said in a statement. “The government of Japan strongly protests to the US side and seeks maximum cooperation with the investigation.”
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