Japanese Prime Minister slams ‘insufficient’ curfew on American troops after local woman’s murder

Tension between US troops stationed on Okinawa and the Japanese public has reached breaking point after a Marine was arrested on suspicion of the murder of a local woman. Stars and Stripes reported last week that Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard had been arrested on suspicion of killing and robbing 39-year-old local Anna Yagi at a hotel in the city of Naha.

Cops allege she died of asphyxiation after Ballard allegedly “pressed on her neck”. He denies the allegations. This is far from the first criminal incident involving the US military and Japanese civilians, with previous incidents causing mass protests from locals against the base.

As such, Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson implemented a two-day alcohol ban and a mandatory curfew – dubbed a “Period of Reflection” – is in place for 30 days. During the hours of midnight to 5 am, enlisted men and women must remain either in their assigned quarters or inside their off-base residences.

“Taking a human life is something that can never be justified”

But even this has faced firm criticism from Japan’s hardline nationalist prime minister Sanae Takaichi, who described the attack as “extremely brutal“. During a budget committee meeting, she was asked for her take on the US military’s response to the incident by Okinawa lawmaker Masahisa Miyazaki.

She dubbed the curfew “insufficient” and said: “I question how banning outings during the time people are asleep actually fosters reflection or leads to realistic measures to prevent a recurrence.” Takaichi also confirmed that her Foreign Minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, had made “very strong requests” in conversations with Marco Rubio and US Ambassador to Japan George Glass, and that her Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi “took immediate action.”

This all comes against Takaichi’s historic skepticism of America’s presence in Japan, backed up by her revisionist views on Japan’s actions during World War II. For example, as a cabinet minister, she controversially made repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial to Japan’s war dead, has questioned, dismissed, or downplayed atrocities Japanese troops are documented as committing, and advocates revising Article 9 of Japan’s pacifist constitution to once again have a military rather than a self-defense force.

However, Takaichi is not calling for US bases to be closed down, but rather that US troops fully cooperate with criminal investigations and maintain stricter discipline on and off base.

Corporal Ballard is now in Japanese custody awaiting a court hearing, with the Japanese justice system having clear jurisdiction as the alleged attack was off-duty and off-base. Meanwhile, the victim’s family say (via Stripes.com) they’re “barely making it through each day”, are demanding “consequences equal to the gravity of the act,” and have said, “taking a human life is something that can never be justified.”