The Japanese government on Sunday lodged a rare protest against the United States after a US Marine was arrested in connection with the death of a woman in the Okinawa archipelago. The Marine, Devin J. Ballard, a 20-year-old corporal assigned to the Third Marine Expeditionary Force on Okinawa, was being held by authorities in Naha, Okinawa’s capital, U.S. officials said. He is accused of robbing and killing Anna Yagi, 39, who was found in a Naha hotel on Saturday morning. The case threatens to reignite concerns about the U.S. military presence in Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost prefecture, which is home to about 30,000 active-duty U.S. military personnel. Crimes committed by American service members on Okinawa have been a source of tension between the United States and Japan for decades. Japan’s Foreign Ministry filed its complaint on Sunday with the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, which said it was aware of the matter and would cooperate with the investigation. “We express our deepest condolences to the victim’s family,” the embassy said in a social media post. The Third Marine Expeditionary Force confirmed in a statement Sunday that a Marine was in custody. Japanese media reported that surveillance footage showed Corporal Ballard entering the hotel with Ms. Yagi early on Saturday. Okinawa police were not available for comment. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed her condolences to the victim’s family in a statement on social media on Sunday. “The occurrence of such an extremely brutal and atrocious incident is a cause for deep regret,” he wrote. Japan has filed a complaint with the United States and demands maximum cooperation with the investigation, as well as measures “to prevent the repetition of such incidents,” he said. Genta Koja, a conservative politician, prevailed last month in the Okinawa governor’s race, a victory for Ms. Takaichi, who is seeking to accelerate a military buildup there to counter China. Mr. Koja unseated an incumbent who had criticized Ms. Takaichi’s defense policies and opposed the construction of new U.S. military facilities on the island of Okinawa. Okinawa, with a population of 1.5 million, is home to 70 percent of U.S. bases in Japan, despite making up just 0.6 percent of the country’s land mass. The United States seized Okinawa from Japan after World War II; He returned to the island in 1972, but continued to operate bases there. Okinawa is strategically important because it is close to China and Taiwan. A once-prominent anti-war movement in Okinawa, which opposes the US military presence, has lost some influence in recent years amid renewed concerns about China. In 2017, an Okinawa court sentenced a former US Marine, Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, to life in prison after finding him guilty of the rape and murder of a 20-year-old Japanese woman, Rina. Shimabukuro. Hisako Ueno contributed reporting.
