Japanese police apprehended a U.S. Marine in the alleged robbery and murder of a woman on Okinawa, officials said Sunday, the latest criminal case on the southern island where the heavy American troop presence has remained a sensitive issue.
Okinawa prefectural police said they detained a 20-year-old Marine stationed at Futenma Air Station on suspicion of murdering a 39-year-old local woman at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa’s capital city, and stealing her wallet and backpack early Saturday.
According to Kyodo News, the woman’s body was discovered in her hotel room and appeared to have been strangled to death.
According to police, security camera footage shows the man suspected to be the perpetrator entering the hotel with the victim and exiting alone. According to Kyodo, an officer nabbed the suspect after spotting him wandering alone on a street in Naha’s entertainment district late Saturday.
“The case deals a major shock and adds fear to Okinawans who have already been forced to live next to U.S. bases,” newly elected Okinawa Gov. 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 remarked, alluding to the US military’s responses to previous criminal instances.
Under a bilateral security pact, approximately 50,000 US troops are deployed in Japan, with roughly half of them stationed on Okinawa, whose strategic significance is considered as increasingly crucial for the Japan-US military alliance as tensions with China rise. Japan’s southwestern military shift is largely focused on Okinawa and the surrounding islands.
Okinawans have long complained about noise, pollution, and crime associated with US bases, with crimes committed by US service members on Okinawa affecting relations between Japan’s central government and the Okinawa administration. The latest instance comes as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s cabinet seeks to strengthen the Japanese military presence on Okinawa and collaborate more closely with the United States military.
“The occurrence of the heinous crime is extremely regrettable,” Takaichi wrote in her letter on X. She stated that her government has firmly objected to the US side, demanding full collaboration with Japanese authorities in the probe, as well as stricter discipline for US service members and preventive measures.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned US Ambassador to Japan George Glass to his office, conveying “outrage,” according to a ministry statement.
Glass, on X, offered sympathies to the victim’s family and stated that the US is working with the Japanese national and local administrations.
The US Marine Corps said in a statement that the suspect is attached to the III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa and that it is fully cooperating with Japanese officials. “The Marine Corps takes these allegations very seriously and expects every Marine to adhere to the highest standards of behavior.”
Futenma base, located in a heavily populated area of central Okinawa, has long been a source of contention among Okinawans, who have requested its evacuation. Despite complaints, the central government approved construction to transfer the base to Henoko on Okinawa’s eastern shore, though the project has been significantly delayed.
A high-profile 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US service personnel provoked widespread protests against the large US soldier presence on Okinawa. According to prefectural police, there were more than 100 arrests involving US service men and their families last year. In recent years, Okinawans have been outraged by the repeated occurrence of sexual offenses, as well as some of the delays in their disclosure.
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