US military personnel stationed on Japan’s Okinawa Island will observe a month-long curfew and are prohibited from drinking alcohol as part of disciplinary training after a Marine allegedly killed a local woman.
Lance Cpl. Devin J. Ballard, 20, was arrested by local police on Oct. 4 on suspicion of murdering and robbing Anna Yagi, a 39-year-old woman who was pronounced dead in a hotel room in Naha, the most populous city on the island.
Ballard, who is stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma as part of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, has denied the allegations, according to Japanese authorities.
The decision to impose training and disciplinary measures comes as US military leadership has tried to respond to outrage from Okinawa residents and Japanese politicians over the conduct of US personnel.
“Every interaction with our neighbors either builds or undermines the trust that is essential to our team. When that trust is damaged, it affects the strength of our alliance and the security of this region,” Marine Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson wrote to US military personnel in Okinawa in a letter on Oct. 6.
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The US military will pause operations on Okinawa for 48 hours starting Oct. 7 to provide training to all service members. During that period, American personnel will be prohibited from consuming alcohol or leaving their base.
The training will feature “discussions on liberty policy, enforcement mechanisms, alcohol awareness, Okinawan culture, and alliance responsibilities,” Watson wrote.
Okinawa Governor Genta Koja speaks to reporters Wednesday after his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi regarding the alleged murder of a local woman by a US Marine stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa Prefecture.
As of Oct. 9, all US service members stationed on Okinawa will observe a month-long overnight curfew from midnight to 5 a.m.
Yagi's killing has reignited long-standing opposition among residents to the US military presence on Okinawa because of the behavior of American personnel. Protesters took to the streets in Naha and Tokyo to condemn the incident.
In 1995, three US service members raped a 12-year-old girl in Okinawa. Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, a former Marine, was sentenced by a court in Japan to life in prison after he was convicted of raping and murdering a 20-year-old woman in 2017.
Genta Koja, the governor of Okinawa, called on the Japanese government to take more action against US military personnel in a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Oct. 7.
“The fact that an incident like this has happened again leaves us no choice but to say that the US military's disciplinary enforcement, human rights education, and the like are not functioning at all,” Koja said.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Oct. 4 that Yagi's killing was an “extremely brutal and heinous” incident. Japan’s foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, summoned the US ambassador to Japan to lodge a formal protest over Ballard’s alleged actions.
