WWII bombs put a halt to Japan’s ‘bullets’

TOKYO (AFP) – Japanese troops removed two unexploded wartime bombs in central and western Japan on Sunday, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homes and disrupting bullet train services.

Removal work began Sunday morning at a factory in Hamamatsu, central Japan, where a dud shell, believed to have been fired by a US naval ship during World War II, was found in October, a city official said.

A bomb disposal unit of the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) loaded the 860-kilogramme shell on to a military vehicle and transported it to a nearby beach, where it was detonated later in the day, the official said.

“We have already lifted the evacuation advisory issued to some 10,000 residents and are now confirming if it was defused with the detonation,” the official said.

Central Japan Railway suspended its operation of the high-speed Tokaido Shinkansen Line between Hamamatsu and Toyohashi for about an hour, affecting some 14,000 passengers, local media said.

Separately, another unexploded wartime bomb was also removed by troops in the western city of Kobe on Sunday, forcing some 7,000 people to temporarily evacuate to schools and other public buildings, city officials said.