The move was already the second such land return under the agreement, following the handover of one hectare in the Makiminato Service Area in August 2013, Kyodo news agency reported.
“We will try to realize the next base return as early as possible,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in Tokyo. “We will reduce the burden in a visible manner.”
Okinawa still accounts for almost 74 percent of the total acreage of US military facilities in Japan, prefectural officials said.
The Japan-US agreement also envisages returning the 481-hectare US Marines Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan to Japan in 2022 or later, if a replacement facility can be built in the Henoko area in Nago.
However, local opposition to the proposed replacement base remains fierce.
