US Marine held in Okinawa over alleged killing of Japanese woman
A US Marine stationed on Okinawa has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 39-year-old Japanese woman at a hotel in Naha, according to local police. The case has renewed attention on longstanding tensions over crimes involving US personnel on the island, where much of Japan’s US military presence is concentrated.
A US Marine stationed on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a Japanese woman, local police said on Sunday. A police spokesman told AFP that the suspect allegedly killed the 39-year-old woman at a hotel in Naha on Saturday and stole her wallet. Japanese media, citing investigation sources, reported that CCTV footage showed a foreign man entering a room with a woman and later leaving with her belongings.
Police subsequently found a 20-year-old man who matched the description in the footage and asked him to accompany them to a police station, where he was arrested, NHK reported. The suspect reportedly denied the allegations. The supplied material does not identify him by name.
US Ambassador George Glass said on social media that he had spoken with Japan’s foreign ministry and Okinawa’s governor. He offered condolences and pledged full US cooperation with the investigation. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan had protested to US authorities and described the crime as “exceptionally brutal and vicious”.
She called for maximum cooperation, stricter discipline among US military personnel and measures to prevent similar incidents. The case comes amid longstanding local anger over crimes involving US personnel. Okinawa hosts about 70% of US military facilities in Japan, while the United States has around 54,000 military personnel stationed in the country, mostly on the island.
Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said incidents involving US personnel caused “great anxiety” in local communities. The material also cites earlier convictions involving US personnel and a Yomiuri Shimbun report that about 6,000 US military personnel had been arrested since Okinawa returned to Japan in 1972.
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