Japan and the United States were to reach a final agreement Friday on plans to return some of the land south of the U.S. Kadena Air Base on Okinawa now used by the U.S. military, a Japanese government source said Thursday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos were expected to sign off on the plans, which concern five U.S. military facilities and areas on Okinawa Island, after their meeting at the prime minister's office late Friday afternoon.
Japan and the United States also aim to specify in the plans when U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the city of Ginowan will be closed and its operations relocated to a new airstrip slated to be built in a coastal area in Nago, farther north on the island, the source said.