Japan protests to US after Marine arrested in Okinawa killing

Japanese police arrested 20-year-old US Marine Devin Jacob Ballard in Okinawa on Oct. 4, 2026, on suspicion of robbing and murdering Anna Yagi, a 39-year-old local woman, at a hotel in Naha. Japan subsequently lodged an official protest with the United States and requested cooperation with the investigation.¹²³⁵

The police case

The alleged killing and theft occurred during the early hours of Saturday, according to reports citing Japanese authorities. Yagi was found dead that morning, and police said she had died from suffocation. Ballard is suspected of taking her wallet and backpack.²⁴

Surveillance footage reportedly showed Ballard and Yagi entering the hotel room together before the serviceman left alone. Deutsche Welle reported that police later found a man matching the description from the footage and that he voluntarily accompanied officers to a police station.¹⁵

Reports from The Japan Times, the South China Morning Post and The Washington Post said Ballard denied the accusations. The US Marine Corps confirmed that the serviceman was being held by Japanese authorities, according to Deutsche Welle.¹²³⁴

Ballard is assigned to US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, according to Deutsche Welle and TASS. The allegations against him have not been established beyond the suspicions reported by police.¹⁵

Japan presses Washington

The Japanese government registered an official protest with Washington and sought maximum US cooperation with the investigation. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also called for tighter discipline among US military personnel and steps intended to prevent another such incident.¹²⁴⁵

Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said incidents involving US military personnel created anxiety in the local community. US Ambassador George Glass said he discussed the case with officials at Japan’s Foreign Ministry and with Okinawa’s governor, conveyed his condolences and pledged complete cooperation during the continuing investigation.¹

The Marine Corps said every Marine was expected to meet its highest behavioural standards and that it was treating the allegations seriously. The victim’s brother said the family was deeply saddened by her death.¹

US forces in Okinawa

Deutsche Welle reported that about 54,000 US military personnel, including 18,000 Marines, were stationed in Japan and that most were based in Okinawa. TASS reported that the prefecture contained more than 70 per cent of the total area used by US military facilities in Japan.¹⁵

Deutsche Welle said roughly 6,000 members of the US military have been taken into custody in Okinawa since 1972, with 80 such arrests recorded in 2024. It further said a Japanese court last year gave a Marine a seven-year term after convicting him of strangling and attempting to rape a young woman, while a former Marine and a civilian base employee were given life sentences in 2017 for raping and killing an Okinawa woman.¹