Japanese citizens rally in Tokyo to protest crimes by US Forces in Japan

Japanese citizens gathered near the US embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday evening to protest a recent case in which a US Marine stationed in Japan's Okinawa allegedly robbed and murdered a local woman, and to oppose an upcoming Japan-US joint military exercise.

Protesters chanted slogans including "US military bases out of Okinawa" and "US military, stop killing." Police deployed officers and patrol cars to keep order, and at times there was pushing and shoving between officers and protesters.

One participant, who gave her name as Ishiyama, told reporters that the incident was horrifying. Japan has long put the burden of hosting US military bases on Okinawa, she said, adding that under the pretext of "safeguarding Japan," Okinawans have been treated as expendable pawns.

Matsumoto, another protester, said that as long as US troops remain stationed in Okinawa, similar cases will keep happening.

On October 4, Okinawa prefectural police arrested Devin Ballard, a 20-year-old US Marine stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. He is suspected of killing a local woman at a hotel in Naha, the capital of Okinawa, the day before and stealing her wallet and other belongings.

Following the incident, the US military in Okinawa suspended normal operations for 48 hours and imposed a curfew from midnight to 5 a.m. local time for 30 days. Matsumoto said the measures may have been intended to avoid affecting the upcoming military exercise and are "not truly aimed at preventing similar cases from happening again."

The incident prompted the Okinawa prefectural assembly to adopt a protest resolution and an opinion statement last Friday, demanding effective measures to prevent a recurrence and a fundamental revision of the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement.

Despite fierce outrage sparked by the case, Japan and the United States still plan to hold the bilateral joint exercise known as Keen Sword 27 from October 19 to 29.

Hiroaki Uchikura, chief of the Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, said last Friday that there are currently no plans to change the participating units, the scale of the exercise, or the training locations, nor to cancel the participation of the US Marine Corps.

(With input from Xinhua)