Japanese soldiers remove a defused unexploded bomb from World War II out of a construction site in Kuwana city, Japan, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023. (Kuwana city)
TOKYO — An unexploded World War II bomb was safely removed from a construction site in central Japan on Sunday by members of the country’s Ground Self-Defense Force, according to the city.
The soldiers first defused the American-made, 2,000-pound aerial bomb at a construction site in Kuwana city, just west of Nagoya, at 11:11 a.m., an official with the city's Crisis Management Office said Wednesday.
The bomb, just under 6 feet long and 2 feet in diameter, was discovered at the site in December, the official said.
The city sealed off an area within a 984-foot radius of the construction site and evacuated about 200 people from 80 households Sunday morning, he said. Roads and the nearby Nagara River waterway were also sealed off, according to a city news release.
The bomb was successfully defused, and the entry ban was lifted by 11:45 a.m., the official said. It’s customary in Japan for some government officials to speak to the media on condition of anonymity.
Kuwana was heavily bombed during the war and a quantity of unexploded ordnance has been found in the area, the official said. The last unexploded bomb was found in 1999, he added.
Leftover, unexploded ordnance from WWII is frequently found in Japan.
In April, the Ground Self-Defense Force disarmed a 550-pound bomb at a construction site in Nagoya.
In December 2021 and January 2022, the Maritime Self-Defense Force disposed of more than 600 unexploded munitions found during dredging work at Naha Port on Okinawa.
