Japanese prime minister calls US military curfew ‘insufficient’ after Okinawa homicide

Japan’s prime minister criticized the U.S. military response to a Marine’s arrest in an Okinawa homicide investigation. In this screenshot from security footage, a man who appears to be Marine Lance Cpl. Devin Ballard, in plaid shirt, follows a woman who appears to be Anna Yagi, wearing a black backpack, in front of the Tesio sausage shop in Okinawa city, Okinawa, Oct. 2, 2026. (Tesio) Japan’s prime minister criticized the U.S. military response to a Marine’s arrest in an Okinawa homicide investigation Tuesday, calling a monthlong overnight curfew for American troops inadequate. Sanae Takaichi questioned whether the midnight-to-5 a.m. restriction would prevent further incidents after Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, was arrested Oct.

4 on suspicion of killing and robbing a Japanese woman at a Naha hotel. She made the remarks during a House of Representatives budget committee meeting in reply to Okinawa lawmaker Masahisa Miyazaki, who challenged the effectiveness of the U.S. response. “I question how banning outings during the time people are asleep actually fosters reflection or leads to realistic measures to prevent a recurrence,” Miyazaki said, according to a livestream of the meeting on the assembly’s website. Takaichi said she considered the measure “insufficient” after reviewing it in her office. She added that Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi had made “very strong requests” to U.S. Secretary of