US military in Japan’s Okinawa imposes night curfew after marine’s arrest over murder
Por Kyodo — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement Japan Asia East Asia US military in Japan’s Okinawa imposes night curfew after marine’s arrest over murder
Lieutenant General Benjamin Watson said ‘incidents like this demand we pause for reflection’
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Kyodo Published: 9:03am, 7 Oct 2026 The US military in Okinawa will impose a curfew from midnight to 5am for a month starting Friday following the arrest of a marine on suspicion of robbing and murdering a local woman, its regional coordinator said on Tuesday.
All US military personnel on Okinawa will also observe a 48-hour operational pause from noon on Wednesday, during which there will be “no off-base liberty, including a complete prohibition of alcohol consumption on or off base”, said Lieutenant General Benjamin Watson, Okinawa area coordinator of US Forces Japan.
“Incidents like this demand we pause for reflection,” Watson said of the murder case. “Discipline is the individual and collective commitment to make sound decisions, look after one another, and always do what is right.”
The announcement came after local police arrested Devin Ballard, a 20-year-old US marine stationed in the southern island prefecture, on suspicion of robbing and murdering Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in Naha on Saturday.
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