Japanese troops plan to defuse and remove two World War II-era bombs, including the one shown here, discovered last month near Miyako Airport in Okinawa prefecture. (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force)

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Japanese ordnance disposal experts plan to defuse two suspected World War II-era bombs found last month on Miyakojima, a popular tourist spot 170 miles southwest of Okinawa.

Soldiers with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit expect to defuse the 551-pound bombs on Nov. 29, a spokesman for the Miyakojima city Disaster Prevention and Crisis Management Division said by phone Tuesday.

The bombs will then be moved to a warehouse on the island, a spokesman for the Ground Self-Defense Force said by phone Tuesday. The island is part of Okinawa prefecture.

They will be detonated at an unspecified date, the spokesman added.

The bombs were discovered on Oct. 8 and 11 on property next to Miyako Airport.

The operation will start after 9 p.m., when all planes are scheduled to leave the airport, and is expected to finish at 1 a.m. “to avoid any effects to Miyako Airport,” according to the division spokesman. Traffic will be restricted around the property to a radius of 928 feet.

“We will not ask anyone to evacuate since there are no residences around the place,” he said.

Some Japanese government officials are required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.

Contractors hired by the prefecture discovered the bombs while making a magnetic survey of the property.

Last month, Japan started magnetic surveys at Miyazaki Airport on Kyushu and is expected to finish in January, a spokesman for Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said by phone Wednesday.

The survey came after a 500-pound WWII-era device exploded Oct. 2 underneath a taxiway shoulder at the airport on the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands.

Preparations are underway for magnetic surveys at other Japanese airports, including Naha Airport on Okinawa, the spokesman said.

Approximately 2,000 tons of ordnance remain undiscovered out of 200,000 tons dropped on the main island during the Battle of Okinawa, according to the prefecture’s General Bureau website.

Crews disposed of nearly 22 tons of unexploded ordnance between April 1, 2023, and March 31.