Japanese police on Feb. 19, 2026, accused a man of using a fake U.S. military ID to enter Yokosuka Naval Base in the fall. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Japanese police arrested a Tokyo man on suspicion of using a forged U.S. military ID to gain entry to the Navy’s largest overseas installation in October.
Yoshitaka Mizuno, 45, was taken into custody at his home Thursday, a spokesman for the Kanagawa Prefectural Police said by phone Friday.
The case will soon be forwarded to prosecutors, the spokesman said. Some Japanese officials may only speak to the media on condition of anonymity.
The base is “aware of media reports of an alleged illegal entry,” installation spokesman Justin Keller said by email Friday. He declined to provide further details and said Kanagawa police are the lead authority on the case.
“We are cooperating fully with them in their investigation,” Keller said. “It would be inappropriate to provide further comment to an ongoing investigation.”
The installation’s security and the safety of its “service members, civilians, and families are our top priority,” he added.
Police allege Mizuno forged an ID with his photo under the name of “Yoshitaka Alex Mizuno” and used it to enter the base, another Kanagawa police spokesman said by phone Friday.
Mizuno admitted entering the naval base and said he was attracted by the U.S. military and wanted to interact with that community as much as possible, according to the second spokesman.
While on base, Mizuno rented a car that he kept for two weeks. He later parked the vehicle on a Tokyo street where the Metropolitan Police Department cited him for a parking violation in November. That led investigators to discover his entry into the base, the spokesman said.
Mizuno presented Tokyo police what appeared to be a U.S. military ID card as identification, according to the second spokesman. Police discovered the ID was fake after asking the U.S. military about it.
Mizuno, a trading company employee, went voluntarily with Kanagawa police who met him Thursday at Narita Airport upon his return from Iraq, where he had been for work, according to police.
Officers arrested him at 7:21 p.m. after they investigated his home.
Mizuno is also being investigated for entering Naval Air Facility Atsugi, according to police, who are still investigating how Mizuno obtained the ID.
