Japan Ground Self-Defense Force troops defused this U.S.-made shell believed to be from World War II after removing it from a construction site in Naha city, Okinawa, April 5, 2025. (Naha city, Okinawa)
Japanese troops recently removed and neutralized three World War II-era U.S. artillery shells uncovered at construction sites across southern Okinawa and detonated another offshore, according to local officials.
The discoveries, made over the past two months, highlight the lingering danger of unexploded ordnance from the Battle of Okinawa, fought 80 years ago on the island.
Two shells were unearthed in Okinawa’s capital, Naha, city officials said.
The first was discovered March 3 in the Shuri district and removed without evacuations March 18 by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, according to the city’s website.
The second shell, found March 12 at a construction site in the Sobe district, prompted the evacuation of 120 people from 40 homes and two businesses within an 80-foot radius. A team of seven EOD troops lifted the shell into an explosion-proof container and defused it Saturday, a city spokeswoman said by phone Wednesday.
The third shell was found Feb. 8 and removed March 25 from a site near an elementary school in the Ozato district of Nanjo city. Eight EOD troops defused the shell by mid-morning that day, a city spokesman said by phone Thursday. No evacuations were ordered.
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force troops remove and defuse a U.S.-made shell believed to be from World War II at a construction site in Naha city, Okinawa, April 5, 2025. (Naha city, Okinawa)
The following day, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force detonated a 6-inch U.S. shell, also believed to be from WWII, off the coast of Nago in northern Okinawa. Maritime traffic was barred from a 980-foot radius and swimmers were kept out of a 1.8-mile zone during the operation, the city said.
The Okinawa Defense Bureau also confirmed Wednesday that a 40 mm U.S.-made shell, mistakenly relocated in January last year by a contractor to a warehouse in Urasoe city, was safely removed that month. It was found on land that once formed part of the U.S. military’s Northern Training Area, a bureau spokesman said by phone Wednesday.
A grenade that had also gone missing at the former training area was never recovered.
The bureau pledged to work with relevant agencies to ensure safety if future unexploded ordnance is discovered in the area.
The Japanese government has completed a magnetic survey of Miyazaki Airport on Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island, after an old shell exploded there in October. No additional ordnance was found, a transport ministry spokesman said Wednesday.
Magnetic surveys are also underway at Naha, Sendai, Matsuyama and Fukuoka airports. Work on Naha’s runway is expected to conclude in June, with additional surveys continuing through December.
Some Japanese government officials speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.
