Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has condemned the killing of a woman in which a US Marine stationed in Okinawa is the suspect as an "unspeakable crime," calling on the United States to "enforce discipline thoroughly" as outrage spreads across Japan.
Speaking to lawmakers on Monday, Takaichi said the government had asked Washington to "cooperate fully with the investigation" and had demanded "strict discipline for US service members."
According to police, the suspect is a 20-year-old Marine who was arrested on suspicion of killing a 39-year-old woman at a hotel in the city of Naha and stealing her wallet. Kyodo news agency, citing police sources, reported that the woman's body was found in the hotel room and showed signs of having been strangled.
The Marine was arrested by Japanese police on Sunday and handed over to prosecutors on Monday. He denies the charges.
"It is extremely regrettable that such an unspeakable crime has occurred," Takaichi said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, who oversees matters related to the US military presence in Okinawa, said Tokyo will "continue to urge the US side to enforce thorough discipline" over American troops in Japan. Kihara added that Tokyo has lodged protests with the US at "various levels."
The case has sparked outrage across Japan. Japan's foreign and defense ministries summoned the US ambassador and the commander of US forces in Japan to lodge protests.
According to Jiji Press, about 100 people protested outside the Okinawa prefectural government headquarters on Sunday, chanting: "How much longer must we put up with all of this?" Japanese media reported that about 100 others joined a march in Naha the same day.
Sorane Sakihama, 24, an Okinawa native who organized a similar march in Tokyo on Sunday, said she cried when she learned the victim had died. "We were unable to protect her. That made me both angry and sad," the university student told AFP, adding that she is planning another protest outside the US embassy on Tuesday evening.
"I want to ask them: What are these soldiers stationed here for? They may say they are here to protect lives or boost security. But how can they say that when a life has been taken by one of their own?" Sakihama said.
Japan currently hosts about 54,000 US military personnel, including 18,000 Marines. Most of that force is based in Okinawa, an island that was under US administrative control after World War II and was returned to Japan in 1972. Crimes including rape, assault, hit-and-run and drunk driving by US service members have long fueled protests there.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, about 6,000 US service members have been arrested in Japan since Okinawa was returned to Japanese control.
