Japanese troops removed and defused this U.S.-made, World War II-era shell at a construction site in Naha city, Okinawa, Jan. 19, 2025. (Naha city)

Japanese troops removed and defused an American shell believed to be from World War II from a construction site in Okinawa’s capital city over the weekend.

Five members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit on Sunday moved the 5-inch shell by crane into an explosion-proof container and defused it, a spokesman for the city’s Disaster Prevention and Crisis Management Division said by phone Tuesday.

The shell was discovered Nov. 28 in the Matsuyama district of Naha city. About 60 people from 30 households and nine businesses were asked to evacuate during the removal, according to the city’s website.

The operation began at 9:28 a.m. and concluded ahead of schedule at 9:55 a.m., the spokesman said. Traffic was restricted to a radius of about 80 feet beginning at 7 a.m. and lifted after the removal.

The shell was taken to a prefecture-managed warehouse to be detonated later, he said.

Some Japanese government officials speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.

The discovery is the latest at Naha construction sites. Another 5-inch, U.S.-made shell found in October was removed from the Uebaru district and defused in December.

The Japanese government has been ramping up searches for similar ordnance at airports across the country. The government began surveys in October at Miyazaki Airport on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, after a World War II-era bomb exploded that month.

Magnetic surveys began in December at Naha Airport, along with airports in Sendai, Matsuyama and Fukuoka.

Crews disposed of nearly 22 tons of unexploded ordnance leftover from WWII on Okinawa between April 1, 2023, and March 31.