Okinawan governor says US military discipline is ‘failing completely’
Japan lodged the formal protest on Sunday, a day after Yagi was found dead on Saturday at a hotel in Naha, the Okinawan capital. Okinawan police said Ballard is accused of killing Yagi and stealing her wallet and backpack. The police said Ballard denies the allegations, according to the report. Ballard could not be reached for comment, and it was not clear whether he had legal representation, the report added.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a message on her official X account that officials had lodged “a strong protest” with the United States and demanded maximum cooperation with the investigation. “The occurrence of such an extremely brutal and heinous incident is a matter of profound regret,” Takaichi said.
US Ambassador George Glass said he had discussed the matter with Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with Okinawa’s governor. “We confirmed our policy of providing full cooperation with the investigation,” Glass said on X. A spokesman for the Marine Corps said the service is cooperating with Japanese authorities and takes the allegations very seriously.
In a statement Sunday, Koja said: “Although the prefecture has repeatedly called upon the U.S. military to prevent recurrences whenever incidents have occurred in the past, the fact that such an incident has happened again compels me to say that the U.S. military’s efforts to enforce discipline and train its personnel are failing completely.”
Ballard is a lance corporal with the Third Marine Expeditionary Force stationed on Okinawa, according to a US official. There are around 30,000 US military personnel on active duty on the island, which lies roughly 1,000 miles from Tokyo. The United States has maintained bases on Okinawa since World War II; the island was returned to Japan in 1972.
Resentment over the US presence has been a feature of Okinawan life and politics for decades, and sporadic incidents of violence involving US military personnel have repeatedly stoked local anger. The arrest lands against a political backdrop that had recently seemed to soften: Koja’s victory in Okinawa’s gubernatorial election showed some of that hostility fading as voters focused on pocketbook issues and Japan confronted new security challenges from China and Russia.
Koja, a member of Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, defeated incumbent Denny Tamaki, a stalwart of the anti-base movement. Tensions over the US presence have periodically flared between Okinawa and Washington since the bases were established, with crimes involving service members repeatedly drawing formal protests and demands for tighter discipline.