Japan's defence minister to meet Okinawa governor as Marine murder case strains US basing

Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Tuesday, 6 October, that he will meet Okinawa Governor Genta Koja on Wednesday to discuss the arrest of a US Marine suspected of killing a local woman, with steps to prevent a recurrence expected to top the agenda. Koizumi told his regular news conference that incidents and accidents involving US military personnel cause deep anxiety in local communities and must not happen, and that after hearing the governor's views he would consider preventive measures while keeping in contact with the US side, according to The Japan Times and Jiji Press.

Koizumi said he wanted new measures in place as soon as possible but declined to give a timeline, The Japan Times reported. Jiji Press said the two men are expected to discuss how to stop a repeat and plan to ask the US side to take the necessary steps.

The case

Okinawa Prefectural Police arrested Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who is assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, on suspicion of robbery and murder over the death of a 39-year-old Naha resident at a hotel in the city in the early hours of Saturday, 3 October. A police spokesman told Stars and Stripes that the woman died of asphyxiation and that the case was sent to prosecutors on Monday. Ballard denies the allegations, according to police.

III Marine Expeditionary Force confirmed Ballard's identity on Monday and said it was cooperating with Japanese authorities. A III MEF spokesperson told ABC News that all US service members in Japan are subject to strict off-duty conduct and liberty guidelines, and that while the force continuously reviews its security posture and discipline, it had no announcement on changes to liberty policies.

Tokyo and Naha protest

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned US Ambassador George Glass on Sunday, and Koizumi separately summoned the commander of US Forces Japan, Air Force Lieutenant General Stephen Jost, Stars and Stripes reported. A USFJ spokesman said Jost pledged full cooperation with Japanese authorities and that there was nothing to announce on the command's liberty policy, which since October 2024 has barred off-base drinking between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told lawmakers on Monday that the government had lodged a strong protest with Washington and had called for full cooperation with the investigation and strict discipline among US personnel, Agence France-Presse reported. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said the government would work with the United States to prevent a recurrence and to reduce the burden on local residents.

Also on Monday, Koja and Naha Mayor Satoru Chinen read a formal protest letter to Lieutenant General Benjamin Watson, commander of III MEF, and US Consul General Andrew Ou at the prefectural office. The letter called for a review of the US-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, stricter discipline and measures to prevent similar crimes, and said the repetition of such a crime showed that US military discipline and human rights education were not working. Watson told reporters the Marine Corps would keep cooperating with the investigation and was committed to earning the trust of the Okinawan people.

Basing politics

Koja took office on 30 September after a 13 September election that ended 12 years of prefectural leadership opposed to relocating Futenma to Henoko in northern Okinawa, The Diplomat reported. He has sought a more cooperative relationship with Tokyo, but has withheld judgement on plans to store US Army Typhon and HIMARS systems at Kadena Air Base, saying the government has not adequately explained the reasons or the duration. AFP reported that Koja has said he will travel to Tokyo to lodge a protest with senior government officials.

The case comes as Japan's defence build-up in the southwestern islands becomes more operational, with US Marine Corps NMESIS anti-ship missile and MADIS air-defence systems due to deploy to the island chain for the Keen Sword exercise this month, according to The Diplomat. Okinawa hosts about 70 per cent of the land reserved exclusively for US forces in Japan, and police cleared 101 criminal cases involving US military personnel, civilian employees and their families in 2025, up from 73 the year before.

After a former Marine was arrested in the 2016 killing of an Okinawa woman, the US military imposed a month-long midnight curfew and an off-base alcohol ban on military-connected personnel on the island, Stars and Stripes noted.