80 Years On, WWII Ordnance Disposal Remains Challenge in Okinawa

Naha, Okinawa Pref., April 5 (Jiji Press)--A large amount of unexploded ordnance remains in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, 80 years after the Battle of Okinawa, the largest ground battle in Japan during World War II in which more than 200,000 people, including civilians, died.

Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force is working to dispose of the remaining ordnance, which threatens the daily lives of local residents, but budgetary and other issues are limiting those efforts.

About 200,000 tons of munitions are believed to have been fired at Okinawa during the Battle of Okinawa, which took place in the final stages of the war. Of the amount, about 10,000 tons, or 5 pct, are believed to have ended up not exploding.

About 5,500 tons of the unexploded ordnance were disposed of by local residents and U.S. troops before Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972, and at least 2,000 tons were later neutralized by the SDF. It is estimated that about 1,900 tons are still in the ground.

Incidents involving unexploded shells have continued to occur in Okinawa. In 1974, a modified land mine of the former Japanese military exploded near a kindergarten in the Okinawa capital of Naha, killing four people, including a 3-year-old girl.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]