The governor of Okinawa Prefecture has called on Japan's central government to do more to ensure effective discipline for US service members stationed on the southern island, after a US Marine was arrested on suspicion of robbing and killing a local woman.
Governor Genta Koja, on his first trip to Tokyo since taking office a week earlier, conveyed Okinawa's outrage in a meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday, asking her government to step up efforts to ease the burden of the US military bases stationed on the small island.
"Okinawa has asked for preventive measures every time similar crimes have recurred in the past, and now we have yet another case," Koja told Takaichi at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
"I have to say that the disciplinary and human rights education measures the US military has carried out in the past have had no effect," Koja said.
Okinawa residents have long opposed the heavy US military presence on the island and complained about noise, pollution and crime linked to the bases used by US forces.
Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was arrested late last week on suspicion of strangling 39-year-old Anna Yagi at a hotel and stealing her wallet and backpack. According to Japanese media, he has denied the charges.
The US military in Okinawa had earlier announced a 48-hour pause on all military training activities through Friday, along with restrictions on service members' ability to leave base and a ban on alcohol consumption.
Benjamin T Watson, Okinawa area coordinator and commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, said the 48-hour period would give commanders time to instruct all personnel on "our standards, discipline and responsibilities as members of the Okinawa community".
The lieutenant general, the top US military officer in Okinawa, also announced a 30-day "period of reflection" beginning Friday.
"During this period, we will impose a curfew under which liberty ends at midnight for everyone, meaning you must return to your assigned quarters on base or your off-base residence between midnight and 5 a.m.," Watson said.
Prime Minister Takaichi said she regretted the "brutal crime" and shared the outrage.
Referring to the new disciplinary measures announced by the US military, Takaichi said she expected the US government to take further steps.
Japan and the United States will discuss "how to carry out effective preventive measures", she said.
The US military presence in Okinawa has repeatedly stirred resentment among residents over issues such as noise, aircraft accidents and the conduct of service members.
Last year, a Japanese court sentenced a US Marine to seven years in prison for strangling and attempting to rape a woman in her 20s.
In 2017, a former US Marine and a civilian employee at a military base were sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a local woman in Okinawa.
That same year, US Forces Japan banned all service members from consuming alcohol after a drunk US Marine crashed into a small truck, killing its 61-year-old local driver.
