Japan's Prime Minister Calls the US Military Curfew 'Insufficient' After the Okinawa Killing as Pressure Builds to Revise the Status of Forces Agreement

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on 13 October that the curfew US forces imposed on Okinawa after a local woman was killed is “insufficient.” She said Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi had made “very strong requests” to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and to the US ambassador, George Glass.

Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, a Marine based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was arrested on 4 October over the killing of Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in Naha on 3 October. He denies the charges. The case went to prosecutors on 5 October. No charges have been announced. Stars and Stripes has obtained security footage that appears to show him near the victim on 2 October.

The US response

The commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, Lieutenant General Benjamin Watson, ordered a 30-day “Period of Reflection,” with a curfew from midnight to 5am and an alcohol ban, through 8 November. The Okinawa Navy Ball was postponed. Rubio offered condolences to Motegi on 11 October and pledged to “communicate and fully cooperate.”

On 10 October the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly demanded an apology, compensation and revision of the Status of Forces Agreement, the 1960 treaty that governs US forces in Japan.

The SOFA question

The agreement lets US authorities keep custody of service members accused of crimes until Japan files charges, except in serious cases handled under a 1995 understanding. Each high-profile case on Okinawa, which hosts about 70% of the land used exclusively by US forces in Japan, revives demands to rewrite it. Washington has preferred to adjust how the agreement is applied without reopening the text.

Why it matters

Japan is the US’s most important ally in Asia and is raising defence spending toward 2% of GDP. The relationship is already under strain this month. Rubio defended US sanctions on the International Criminal Court to Motegi on the same 10 October call; Japan is a member and a major funder of the court, as covered in our ICC post.

A Japanese prime minister publicly calling a US mitigation step inadequate is unusual. Takaichi is a conservative and strong supporter of the alliance, which makes the criticism weightier. With G20 foreign ministers meeting in Atlanta on 30 October, Washington has a few weeks to show it’s taking the case seriously before the issue spreads into base politics, including the long-delayed move of Futenma’s operations to Henoko.