Japanese leader calls woman's murder, allegedly by U.S. Marine in Okinawa, "heinous crime" as outrage spreads

… <div id="mpu-plus-outstream-middle" data-ad="mpu-plus-outstream-middle" class="ad-mpu-plus-outstream-middle ad-wrapper " data-ad-unit='"mpu-plus-outstream-middle"'> </div> <p>"The occurrence of such a heinous crime is extremely regrettable," Takaichi said.</p><h2>Emotions run high</h2><p>Around 100 people participated in a rally in Naha on Sunday, holding up placards stating their "strong protest" against the murder, Japanese media reported. </p><p>Okinawa native Sorane Sakihama, 24, who organized a similar rally in Tokyo on Sunday, said she cried upon learning about the woman's death. </p><p>"We couldn't protect her. That made me so angry and sad," the university student told AFP, adding that she was planning to organize another protest in front of the U.S. Embassy for Tuesday evening. </p> <div id="mpu-flex-inc3" data-ad="mpu-flex-inc" class="ad-mpu-flex-inc ad-wrapper " data-ad-unit='["mpu-flex-inc",3]'> </div> <p>"I want to ask them &mdash; what are these soldiers stationed here for? They might say they are here to protect lives or boost security. But how can they say that when a life was taken by their own?" </p><p>Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters on Monday that "the government will work with the United States to thoroughly make sure there will be no recurrence, and reduce burdens on local residents."</p><p>News of the Marine's arrest immediately prompted Japan's foreign affairs and defense ministers to summon senior U.S. officials to convey their "extreme disappointment" and "lodge strong protests," Kihara said. </p><p>The incident came just a few weeks after Okinawa elected Genta Koja as its new governor, ending the eight-year rule of his predecessor who had long pushed for a major U.S. military base to be moved off the island. </p><p>Koja, 42, accepts a central government plan to keep the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air base on Okinawa's main island, but to move it to a less populated location. </p><p>Calling the murder-robbery "extremely malicious in nature," Koja told reporters on Sunday it had "hugely shocked residents here who are forced to live side-by-side with the bases, and instilled new fear in them."</p><div class="embed__float-wrap"> …