Takaichi meets with Okinawa’s Koja after U.S. Marine’s arrest over murder

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi receives a request from Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja (left) at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo on Wednesday afternoon. | JIJI

Oct 7, 2026

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held a closely watched meeting with new Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja in Tokyo on Wednesday as the two looked to defuse growing anger in the prefecture following the arrest of a U.S. Marine there on suspicion of murdering a local woman. 

The meeting came hours after the U.S. military in Okinawa Prefecture paused all operations for two days, a halt that will be followed by a fresh 30-day curfew, days after the incident.

At the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office, Koja said that the murder had induced “great shock and anxiety among residents,” adding that “there is an urgent need to alleviate the burden” on the prefecture hosting the majority of U.S. bases in Japan.

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