Outrage in Japan after U.S. Marine accused of murdering Okinawan woman
A U.S. Marine was arrested this week on suspicion of robbing and killing a local woman in Okinawa. The killing has drawn outrage on the island and inflamed longstanding tensions over U.S. military bases, which residents say are a source of noise, pollution and violent crime against women.
History of violence by U.S. soldiers against women and girls goes back decades
Sheena Goodyear · CBC Radio
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All her life, 24-year-old Sorane Sakihama has heard stories about crimes committed against Japanese women by U.S. soldiers stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
So when a U.S. Marine was arrested this week on suspicion of robbing and killing a local woman at a hotel in the island's capital city of Naha, Sakihama decided she had to do something.
"As an Okinawan, I don't want to see any victims again," she told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "We have to end this history."
Sakihama helped organize a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday, where hundreds of people came to demand justice and call for the ouster of U.S. military bases from Okinawa.
It was one of several protests across the country this week.
About 160 people gathered at a protest Sunday in Naha, demanding U.S. bases be removed from the island.
One sign read: "We've had enough of this!"
LISTEN | Interview with protest organizer Sorane Sakihama:
As It Happens6:19Japanese protesters take to the streets after U.S. Marine accused of murdering Okinawan woman
A U.S. Marine has been arrested on suspicion of robbing and killing a local woman in Okinawa. The killing has drawn outrage on the island and inflamed longstanding tensions over U.S. military bases. Sorane Sakihama, who organized a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Tokyo, spoke to As It Happens host Nil Köksal.Okinawa police have arrested Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who is stationed at Futenma Air Station, on suspicion of strangling Anna Yagi, 39, on Saturday and stealing her wallet and backpack. Ballard denied the allegations, police said.
Sakihama, who grew up in the town of Chatan, didn't know Yagi personally, but says she has met people who did.
"People say she's a really good, kind person."
Devin Jacob Ballard, a U.S. Marine, has been arrested on suspicion of robbing and murdering Anna Yagi, 39. Police say he denies the allegations. (Kotaro Ueda/Kyodo News/The Associated Press)
The killing has drawn outrage in Okinawa and inflamed longstanding tensions over the military bases, which many locals see as a source of noise, pollution and violent crime.
Okinawa was under U.S. occupation from the Second World War until 1972. Today, it is home to 70 per cent of the U.S. military facilities based in Japan, and hosts 18,000 U.S. Marines.
"My grandparents experienced World War II, and what they say is that the military never protected us," Sakihama said.
"They really wanted to have their own land back, but they couldn't."
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the killing "an extremely brutal and vicious incident" and called on the U.S. to co-operate with the police investigation.
History of violence against women and girls
The number of U.S. military-related criminal cases on Okinawa rose to 101 last year from about 40 in 2020, according to local police. But the history of violence by U.S. soldiers against women and girls goes back much further.
In 1995, the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three U.S. servicemen sparked mass protests. In 2013, two U.S. sailors pleaded guilty to the rape of a Japanese woman in Okinawa.
In 2016, a worker on a U.S. air force base admitted to strangling Rina Shimabukuro, a 20-year-old woman whose body was found in undergrowth.
In 2024, a U.S. Air Force member was charged with kidnapping and raping a teenager girl in Okinawa, and was later sentenced to five years in prison.
"Nothing has changed," Sakihama said. "[As long as] we have bases in Okinawa, the situation won't change."
Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja, left, speaks to the media in Naha, Okinawa, on Sunday, calling the murder of a local woman 'absolutely unforgivable.' (Kyodo News/The Asscociated Press)
Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja said this latest murder underscores the ineffectiveness of past disciplinary measures taken by the U.S. military following similar crimes.
"The case deals a major shock and adds fear to the Okinawans who have already been forced to live next to U.S. bases," Koja told reporters Sunday night in Naha. "It is absolutely unforgivable and we are outraged."
The U.S. embassy and the Marine Corps expressed condolences over Yagi's murder and said they were co-operating with the Japanese authorities.
"The Marine Corps takes these allegations very seriously and expects every Marine to adhere to the highest standards of behaviour," it said in a written statement.
George Glass, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, wrote on X that he spoke to U.S. military about holding "our American service members to the very highest levels of discipline and integrity."
What happens next?
Despite strongly worded statements from Japanese and U.S. officials, Sakihama says she doesn't believe they will remove the U.S. military presence from Okinawa.
"I don't expect anything from them," she said.
Prime Minister Takaichi has been pushing to strengthen Japanese military presence and collaborate with U.S. officers on island, which is viewed by Tokyo and Washington as key in deterring potential military aggression from China.
A woman holds a sign demanding the closure of U.S. military bases in Japan during a protest outside the Japanese prime minister's office on Tuesday. (Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty Images)
The U.S. Marines said Ballard remains in Japanese custody.
His case will be handled by Japanese authorities because he was off-duty when the crime was committed and off base when he was arrested.
Japanese prosecutors will determine whether to press formal charges in the coming weeks.
If convicted, Ballard could face life in prison or the death penalty.
Interview with Sorane Sakihama produced by Nishat Chowdhury. With files from Reuters and The Associated Press.
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