The Ryukyu Islands, under U.S. military governance since its conquest in 1945, reverts to Japanese control.

The Ryukyu Islands , also known as the Nansei Islands or the Ryukyu Arc , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands and Okinawa Prefecture. The larger ones are mostly volcanic islands and the smaller mostly coral. The largest is Okinawa Island.

The United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands abbr. USMGR , also referred to as U.S. Ryukyu Islands, was the government in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan from 1945 to 1950, whereupon it was replaced by the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (USCAR).

The Battle of Okinawa , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by the United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. The initial invasion of Okinawa on 1 April 1945 was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Kerama Islands surrounding Okinawa were preemptively captured on 26 March 1945 by the U.S. Army 77th Infantry Division. The 82-day battle on Okinawa lasted from 1 April 1945 until 22 June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the island as a staging point for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, 340 mi (550 km) away.