Japan, US review troops’ off-duty rules after Okinawa killing
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Demonstrators hold placards during a protest outside the Foreign Ministry building on Oct 8 following the killing of a Japanese woman in Okinawa, for which a US Marine is a suspect.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Japan and the US will review rules for off-duty US troops in Okinawa after the alleged killing of a 39-year-old woman by a US Marine.
- Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said talks will examine patrols, curfew management and the “liberty” policy for off-base private activities.
- The policy was tightened in 2024 after sexual assaults, and the US military has already imposed a two-day pause and a month-long curfew.
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TOKYO – Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Oct 13 that officials were reviewing the off-base code of conduct for US troops in Japan following the alleged killing of an Okinawan woman by a US Marine.
Crimes including rapes, assaults, hit-and-runs and drink-driving by US military personnel have long triggered protests on the southern Japanese island, which has for years urged other regions in the country to share the burden of hosting US troops.
“We plan to hold discussions including whether the existing rules are effectively functioning,” said Motegi, adding that “matters such as patrols and curfew management” would be under review in the talks with the United States.
The high-level bilateral consultations will examine off-duty conduct and the “liberty” policy governing off-base private activities of US military personnel, he said.
The existing policy, updated in 2024 following a string of sexual assaults by US military personnel in Okinawa, includes a ban on US military personnel drinking in public off-base between 1am and 5am or even going to bars during those hours.
Japanese police arrested a US Marine stationed on Okinawa last week on suspicion of killing a 39-year-old woman at a hotel in the capital Naha and stealing her wallet.
The US military enacted a two-day operational pause after the Marine’s arrest to reinforce discipline and standards, followed by a month-long curfew from midnight.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Oct 13 that “we began high-level, working-level consultations between Japan and the United States last week on what effective measures should be taken”.
“The Japanese government will continue to do everything in its power both to address this case and to ensure that it does not happen again,” she told a legislative committee session.
Motegi held a telephone call at the weekend with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who offered his “sincere condolences” over the alleged crime, pledging US cooperation in the investigation.
Crimes committed by US personnel have been a thorn in relations between the close security allies.
In 2025, a Japanese court sentenced a US Marine accused of choking and attempting to rape a woman in her 20s to seven years in prison.
The US has around 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan, mostly on Okinawa. AFP