Japan and the United States on April 5 agreed on a road map for the reversion of five U.S. military facilities plus U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, all lying south of U.S. Kadena Air Base on Okinawa Island.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the same day that the agreement was "extremely meaningful to lessen the burden of Okinawa." Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera visited Okinawa the next day and explained the reversion plan to Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima.
Although the government is trying to sell the agreement to Okinawans, it has a major flaw. Most of the facilities will not be returned unless alternative sites are secured within existing U.S. military facilities on Okinawa or unless a large number of U.S. Marines currently stationed there are deployed elsewhere.