🇯🇵🇺🇸 "US, get out of Okinawa!"

Tokyo residents have taken to the streets demanding the withdrawal of American troops from Japan, with protests held outside the Prime Minister's Office and the US embassy.

The anger follows the killing of 39-year-old Anna Yagi, who was strangled in a hotel in Naha, Okinawa's capital, early on Saturday. Police arrested Devin Jacob Ballard, a 20-year-old US Marine stationed at Futenma Air Station, on suspicion of murdering her and stealing her wallet and backpack. He denies the allegations.

This is far from the first such case. Last year a US Marine was sentenced to seven years for choking and attempting to rape a woman in her 20s. In 2017 a former Marine working on a US base received a life sentence for the rape and murder of a local woman.

Okinawans have opposed the heavy US military presence for decades, citing crime, noise and pollution from the bases.

🔴 @DDGeopolitics