Murder in Okinawa: The US military’s history of alleged crime in Japan

The murder of a Japanese woman allegedly committed by a US Marine on the southern island of Okinawa has prompted public outrage in Japan, amid a long string of incidents involving American personnel. Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described the incident on Monday as a “heinous crime” and said the government had lodged a strong protest with Washington, urging their “full cooperation with the investigation” and “strict discipline among US military personnel”. About 100 people participated in a rally in Naha, the capital of Okinawa, on Sunday, as news spread that a US marine had, a day earlier, allegedly killed a 39-year-old woman at a hotel in the city and stolen her wallet.