Japanese police have arrested three US service members stationed in Japan on suspicion of stealing cash and valuables in separate incidents, raising fresh scrutiny of American troops' behaviour in host communities. Authorities say two Marines based at the Iwakuni air station in Yamaguchi Prefecture are suspected of breaking into restaurants in Tokyo and stealing small sums, while investigators suspect they may be linked to a string of larger thefts across multiple locations. The two Iwakuni suspects, both in their 20s, are accused of taking about ¥27,000 (roughly $177) from cash registers at two Tokyo eateries on December 24; their case was handed to prosecutors on February 13. Police say one of the Marines claimed the thefts were to pay for a family member's medical treatment and the other said he needed money for living expenses.
Investigators suspect the two may be involved in more than a dozen thefts in several districts last year, including an incident in which losses could total more than ¥10 million (around $65,000). In a separate arrest on February 15, a 22-year-old US Marine stationed in Okinawa was detained after a customer at a local bar reported a bag containing jewelry and other items worth about ¥780,000 (approximately $5,100) had been taken. The Marine denies theft, saying he mistakenly took someone else’s bag. The arrests come against a backdrop of enduring local unease about US bases in Japan, particularly in Okinawa, where a long-running protest movement has focused on issues from noise and accidents to criminal incidents involving service personnel.
Public anger often resurfaces when American troops are implicated in crimes, intensifying calls from citizens and some local politicians for tighter controls, stricter enforcement of discipline, and changes to the Status of Forces Agreement that governs legal jurisdiction. The cases also test the practical balance between alliance imperatives and local sensitivities: while the US military presence is a cornerstone of Japan’s security posture, recurrent misconduct by individual personnel erodes goodwill and provides political ammunition for opponents of base expansion or relocation. For Tokyo and allied command structures, the immediate priority will be transparent investigation and prosecution under Japanese law to demonstrate accountability, while militaries may also review on- and off-duty liberty policies. Longer term, repeated incidents of this kind can prompt local governments to demand operational adjustments, tougher base management, or renewed discussions about the terms of US forces' presence on Japanese soil.