US Marine Arrested in Japan and Charged with Murder of Japanese Woman in Okinawa

A US marine stationed on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa has been arrested following the death of a Japanese woman, local police said on Sunday. Japan strongly protested to the United States and demanded maximum cooperation in the investigation.

A local police spokesperson told AFP that the suspect, a 20-year-old man, allegedly “killed the 39-year-old woman in a hotel in Naha and stole her wallet on Saturday.” The suspect denied the allegations.

Public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media, citing investigative sources, reported that CCTV footage filmed near the scene showed a stranger entering a room with a woman and then leaving with his belongings.

Police then found a 20-year-old man who matched the description of the suspect seen in the footage and asked him to voluntarily accompany them to the local police station, where he was arrested, NHK reported.

“This case comes as a major shock and adds fear to Okinawans who have already been forced to live next to U.S. bases,” Okinawa’s newly elected governor, Genta Koja, told reporters, the Associated Press reported. “This is absolutely unforgivable and we are outraged.”

“We have lost a member of our family and are deeply saddened. My parents, in particular, are completely devastated by the loss of their daughter,” the woman’s brother said through local police, according to the Asahi Shimbun daily.

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said it was aware that a U.S. service member was in custody following the death of a Japanese national in Okinawa and was “communicating and cooperating” with Japanese authorities in the investigation.

“We extend our sincere condolences to the victim’s family,” the embassy said on social media.

George Glass, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, said on social media that he had spoken with the Japanese Foreign Ministry and the governor of Okinawa, offering “our sincere condolences and pledging full cooperation as the investigation continues.”

This latest case comes as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s office works to further strengthen its Japanese military presence in Okinawa and work more closely with the U.S. military.

Takaichi said Japan had filed a protest with U.S. authorities and called the crime “exceptionally brutal and vicious.”

“The occurrence of this heinous crime is extremely regrettable,” Takaichi said in his social media post.

She added that Tokyo had urged the United States to “provide maximum cooperation in the investigation, impose stricter discipline among American military personnel, and take rigorous measures to prevent the recurrence of similar crimes.”

The U.S. Marine Corps said in a statement to the AP that the suspect was assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa and was cooperating fully with Japanese authorities.

“The Marine Corps takes these allegations very seriously and expects every Marine to adhere to the highest standards of behavior,” the statement said.

The United States has about 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan, primarily on Okinawa, which it held from the end of World War II until 1972.

The crimes, including rapes, assaults and drunken driving accidents committed by U.S. personnel, have been a thorn in security relations between the close allies. The number of arrests linked to American soldiers and their families exceeded 100 last year, according to prefectural police.

“Incidents and accidents involving U.S. military personnel cause great anxiety in the local community and must not be allowed to occur,” Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said.

Last year, a Japanese court sentenced a U.S. marine to seven years in prison accused of choking and attempting to rape a woman in her 20s.

In 2017, a former U.S. Marine and civilian military base employee was sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a local woman in Okinawa.

The same year, U.S. Forces Japan banned all personnel from consuming alcohol after an intoxicated U.S. Marine crashed into a mini-truck, killing its 61-year-old local driver.