Okinawa 50 yrs since return / Unexploded WWII bombs remain daily threat in Okinawa

Ground Self-Defense Force personnel prepare to dispose of unexploded ordnance in a bunker made of sandbags and metal plates in April in Naha. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Even 50 years after Okinawa Prefecture was returned to Japan, an average of over one unexploded ordnance is found in the prefecture a day. In the past, unexploded bombs have detonated at construction sites, resulting in deaths and injuries. It is estimated that about 1,900 tons of unexploded bombs have yet to be recovered, but efforts are underway to find them.

Okinawa Prefecture was where one of the bloodiest battles between Japanese and U.S. military forces took place in the final months of World War II.