US Marine arrested in Japan on suspicion of murder

US Marine arrested in Japan on suspicion of murder. AFPReuters Published October 4, 2026 Updated October 4, 2026 06: 02pm.

Key points

• The US has around 54, 000 military personnel stationed in Japan, mostly on Okinawa.
• In 2024, the number of arrests hit 80, the highest in 20 years.
• A US Marine stationed on Japan's southern island of Okinawa was arrested on suspicion of the murder of a Japanese woman, police remarked on Sunday.
• Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi remarked Japan had lodged a protest with US authorities and called the crime "exceptionally brutal and vicious".
• "Incidents and accidents involving US military personnel cause great anxiety among the local community and must not be allowed to happen, " Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi remarked.

Meanwhile, a US Marine stationed on Japan's southern island of Okinawa was arrested on suspicion of the murder of a Japanese woman, police remarked on Sunday.

Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, is suspected of killing Anna Yagi, 39, in a hotel in Naha, the capital of the southernmost prefecture, on Saturday and taking her wallet and backpack, police remarked. Ballard denied the allegations, police remarked.

Crimes including rapes, assaults, hit-and-run and drunk-driving accidents by US personnel have long sparked protests on Okinawa. It bears a disproportionate burden of hosting regarding 70 per cent of US military facilities in Japan.

US Ambassador George Glass posted on social media that he had spoken with Japan's foreign ministry and Okinawa's governor, offering "our sincere condolences and pledging full cooperation as the investigation continues".

In practice, the administration has called on the US "to provide maximum cooperation with the investigation, enforce stricter discipline among US military personnel, and take thorough measures to prevent the recurrence of similar crimes, " Takaichi noted in a post on X.

Public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media outlets, citing investigation sources, documented that CCTV footage from near the scene demonstrated a foreign man entering a room with a woman and afterwards leaving with her belongings.

Police then discovered a 20-year-old man who matched the description of the suspect seen in the footage, and asked him to accompany them voluntarily to a local police station where he was arrested, NHK noted. He reportedly denied the charges.

"We have lost a family member and are deeply saddened. My parents, in particular, are utterly devastated at the loss of their daughter, " the woman's brother remarked through local police, according to the Asahi Shimbun daily newspaper.

Meanwhile, the US has around 54, 000 military personnel stationed in Japan, mostly on Okinawa.

Crimes committed by US personnel have been a thorn in relations between the close security allies.

In practice, the US embassy and the Marine Corps expressed condolences over the incident and remarked they were cooperating with the Japanese authorities.

For context, the Marines remarked in an official note that the suspect. This person is assigned to the III Marine ‌Expeditionary ⁠Force and based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was in Japanese custody.

"The Marine Corps takes these allegations very seriously and expects every Marine to adhere to the highest standards of behaviour, " it remarked.

Last year, a Japanese court sentenced a US Marine accused of choking and attempting to rape a woman in her 20s to seven years in prison.

In 2017, a former US Marine and civilian military base worker was sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a local woman in Okinawa.

For context, the same year, US Forces Japan banned all personnel from consuming alcohol after an intoxicated US Marine crashed his vehicle into a mini-truck, killing its 61-year-old local driver.

After World War II, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, around 6, 000 US military personnel have been arrested since Okinawa was returned to Japan from the US in 1972.

In short, US Marine arrested in Japan on suspicion of murder is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.