Prosecutors on Okinawa indicted a 20-year-old US Marine on Sunday, 25 October, on charges of robbery and murder of a 39-year-old Japanese woman found dead in a hotel in Naha. According to rp.pl, the accused faces life imprisonment or the death penalty.
As reported by Japan Times, citing the indictment and other sources, the accused is a Lance Corporal of the Marine Corps stationed at Futenma Air Station in the city of Ginowan. According to the indictment, he strangled the woman with a telephone cable in a hotel room in Naha, the prefectural capital, between 2:10 and 4:15 a.m. on 3 October. He also allegedly took a backpack containing the victim’s wallet and other belongings.
What investigators established
According to investigative sources cited by Japan Times and the agency Jiji Press, the woman entered the hotel with a man at around 2:10 a.m. and did not leave the room until the end of the hotel’s day. At around 4:15 a.m., a hotel employee found her body. Surveillance cameras recorded a man carrying a backpack, with features similar to the accused, including tattoos on both arms. The backpack was found near the hotel.
Okinawa Prefectural Police arrested the soldier the same day before noon, as he was walking along a street in the city of Okinawa. He was detained on suspicion of robbery and murder; agencies also report that he was formally arrested on 4 October. The Naha District Prosecutors’ Office did not disclose whether the accused admits guilt. The presumption of innocence applies.
What punishment he faces
The daily Rzeczpospolita reports that the accused faces life imprisonment or the death penalty. Japan is one of the few developed countries that still carry out death sentences.
Tokyo’s reaction and anger on the island
The Japanese government lodged a strong protest with the US. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the case a „shameful crime,” and Tokyo urged Washington to fully cooperate with the investigation and enforce strict discipline among US troops, according to Turkey’s Anadolu agency, citing Kyodo. Okinawa Governor Genta Koja is calling on the central government to take preventive measures. Following the arrest, US forces on Okinawa imposed a 30-day curfew for personnel, from midnight to 5 a.m.
A protest took place in front of the Foreign Ministry building in Tokyo, Reuters reports (agency photo in a publication by The Standard). As Xinhua reports, citing Japanese police data published by the daily „Akahata,” from 1989 to May 2026, 4,998 criminal cases involving US soldiers and their family members were recorded, 2,447 of them on Okinawa.
What it means
The case will be heard by a Japanese court in Naha, which will then decide on guilt and punishment. The case may reignite debate over the Status of Forces Agreement between the US and Japan and over the presence of bases on Okinawa, where a large share of American troops in the country are stationed. For Polish readers, this is primarily news about tensions in Tokyo’s relations with its key ally; it does not directly concern Polish citizens. As of publication, no date for the first hearing or official position of the US government following the indictment has been announced.
