US Troops Face Month-Long Curfew in Okinawa After Alleged Murder

MV-22 Osprey aircraft sit on a runway at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa prefecture, Japan, on May 31, 2018. Carl Court/Getty Images

The U.S. military in Okinawa, Japan, is pausing operations for 48 hours, imposing a month-long curfew, and conducting training after a Marine was arrested on suspicion of robbing and murdering a Japanese woman.

Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, stationed at Futenma Air Station, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of killing Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in Naha on Saturday. He was also suspected of taking her wallet and backpack. Ballard denied the allegations, police said.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, said in an Oct. 6 statement posted on X that such incidents demand a pause for reflection.

“Accordingly, we will take time to think hard about discipline, standards and our alliance responsibilities,” he said.

Police say Yagi died from suffocation caused by pressure on the neck, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK. It was not immediately clear whether Ballard had legal representatives who could comment on his behalf.

The case is the ​latest in a string of incidents stretching back decades that have fueled unease over the U.S. troop presence on the island chain near Taiwan and China.

“Every interaction with our neighbors either builds or undermines the trust that is essential to our ​team,” Watson said. “When that trust is damaged, it affects the strength of our alliance and the security of this region.”

An unidentified person holds placards outside the Japanese prime minister's office to protest the U.S. military presence, in Tokyo, Japan, Oct. 5, 2026. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Prime Minister to Meet With Governor

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in an Oct. 4 post on X that the incident was brutal and heinous.

“The Japanese government has lodged a strong protest with the U.S. side and has strongly called for its fullest cooperation with the investigation, stricter discipline among U.S. military personnel, and thorough measures to prevent a recurrence of such incidents and accidents,” Takaichi wrote.

She will meet Okinawa’s Gov. Genta Koja on Wednesday to discuss their response to the incident, which has sparked protests in Naha and Tokyo.

About 18,000 Marines are stationed in ​Okinawa. The presence of such a large U.S. military contingent on Okinawa has often led to protests among residents over noise and personnel conduct.

Takaichi has been trying to relocate some of the Marines based at Futenma to Camp Schwab in Henoko, which is farther north and away from the prefectural capital, Naha.

Mass protests were held in 1995 after three U.S. servicemen abducted and raped a 12-year-old Okinawan girl. The men were sentenced to more than 6 years in prison.

In 2017, a Japanese court in Naha convicted Kenneth Shinzato, a former Marine and U.S. military contractor, of the rape and murder of an Okinawan woman, 20-year-old Rina Shimabukuro, and sentenced him to life in prison.

U.S. Air Force Airman Brennon Washington, who was stationed at Kadena Air Base, was convicted in 2024 of kidnapping and sexually assaulting an Okinawan girl under the age of 16, according to the Japan Times. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Reuters contributed to this report.