Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya indicated Friday that the return of land occupied by a key U.S. military base in Okinawa will likely not be realized by fiscal 2022, despite the start the same day of full-fledged land reclamation work to build its replacement facility.

"It seems difficult to achieve the goal" as the relocation plan for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma "has gone through various transitions," including the Okinawa Prefectural Government's withdrawal of its permission for land reclamation necessary for the base transfer, Iwaya told reporters.

In April 2013, Tokyo and Washington agreed on the return of the Futenma site, which is located in a crowded residential area of Ginowan, in "fiscal 2022 or later." The two countries plan to move the airstrip to the Henoko coastal district of Nago in the prefecture.