Okinawa Headline-Focus Wall Map 7

Preparations to return Okinawa to the Japanese.

“The U.S. kept Okinawa by right of conquest and spent almost a billion dollars to make it into a powerful military base for the defense of non-Communist Asia.”

This informational poster map was created and produced by the Civic Education Service for Scholastic Magazines, Inc. and published by the latter in Washington, D.C. in 1970. The composite map and accompanying blocks of text were designed to educate an American audience on the upcoming transfer of back to the authority of the Japanese government, though a heavy U.S. military presence would remain on the island. Over two dozen major installations are marked on the left map, plus large ‘Special Training Areas’.

The map on the right highlights Okinawa’s proximity to China and the 38th parallel – emphasizing its importance as a bastion against the perceived threat of Communism.