6,409 US military arrests in Okinawa since 1972
US Marine Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of robbing and killing 39-year-old Anna Yagi in a Naha hotel room, according to Okinawa prefectural police. The killing has drawn protests on the island, where longtime resident Ai Sato called on Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to telephone President Trump directly to discuss preventive measures.
“Honestly my first reaction was, ‘Not again,’” Sato, 52, told the BBC. “Nothing has changed since I was a child. How many times are we going to repeat the same thing, create more victims, cause their families to suffer, and ultimately, cause the people of Okinawa to grieve?”
Sato said the official protest Takaichi registered with Washington fell short. “I am deeply disappointed by the same kinds of government comments we have been hearing for decades — that they will protest or that they take the matter seriously,” she said. “I want Prime Minister Takaichi to call President Trump directly, someone with whom she has been emphasizing as having a close relationship with, and discuss concrete measures to prevent this from happening yet again,” she told the broadcaster.
Yagi was found dead early on 3 October in a hotel room in Naha, according to Okinawa prefectural police. Local media citing police have reported that Yagi appeared to have been strangled with a cord. Security footage allegedly shows a man believed to be the suspect entering the hotel with the woman and leaving alone with her belongings.
Okinawa prefectural police said Ballard was assigned to III Marine Expeditionary Force and stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan City. The police said Ballard is in Japanese custody because the alleged crime was unrelated to official military duties. Whether a US service member is acting in the performance of official duty can determine which country has primary jurisdiction; when Japan has jurisdiction but the suspect is in US custody, the US can retain custody until Japan brings charges.
About 100 people protested in both Naha and Tokyo following news of the killing, with others expressing outrage on social media. One user wrote: “Enough is enough.”
“I know we shouldn’t get used to terrible things like this, but because they keep happening, I’ve stopped being surprised,” Akemi Oshiro, a 62-year-old Ginowan resident, told the BBC.
Over the past few years, a number of accidents and crimes have led to growing local opposition to the US presence on the island, according to BBC reporting. In 2016, the rape and murder of a 20-year-old local woman drew tens of thousands of protesters against the heavy US presence; a former US Marine received a life sentence for the crime. In 2025, a US Marine was convicted of choking and sexually assaulting a Japanese woman. In 1995, three US servicemen abducted, beat, and raped a 12-year-old schoolgirl as she walked home from a stationery store.
Okinawa hosts the largest US military presence in Japan. About 55,000 US military personnel are currently stationed throughout the country, with the heaviest concentration on the tropical island prefecture. Okinawa is one of Japan’s smallest prefectures by size, but 70% of the land used exclusively by the US military in Japan is located there.
Since Okinawa prefecture was returned to Japanese control in 1972 after US forces occupied the islands at the end of the Second World War, there have been 6,409 arrests for criminal offenses related to US military personnel, according to the Okinawa Prefectural Government.
Local residents say the significant US presence has stirred resentment over a range of issues, from crimes including rapes, assaults, and drunk-driving accidents to local disturbances such as noise and aircraft crashes.
“Even 80 years after the war, Okinawa where we live is a place that is so unnerving,” Hitomi Miyagi, a 48-year-old mother of two boys, told the BBC. “We will not stop raising our voices hoping for an Okinawa, where we can live in peace.”