Update | United States military green lights biggest land return on Okinawa since 1972

United States forces in Japan said on Wednesday that the US and Japan are now prepared for the return of thousands of hectares of US military-used land on Okinawa to Japanese control, in what would be the biggest such land transfer in more than 40 years.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy attended a ceremony Wednesday in Tokyo to mark the handover of more than 4,000 hectares (about 10,000 acres), about half of the Jungle Warfare Training Center in the north of the island.

The announcement comes a day after Japan’s Supreme Court ruled that the relocation of another US base in Okinawa could go ahead, despite the opposition of the governor and many local residents, who want it moved out of the prefecture.

“We want to continue to strengthen our ties with the US,” Abe said at his official residence. “On the basis of strong trust, while maintaining deterrence, we want to bring about a reduction in the burden on Okinawa.”

Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga, who is stepping up his demand to remove all Ospreys in the prefecture, plans to skip a ceremony, to be organised by the central government in Okinawa on Thursday, to mark the largest land return since the prefecture reverted to Japanese control in 1972 following postwar US occupation.