News about Japan

[Tom MoodyParticipant]

A sea mine that is believed to have been one of many scattered by the U.S. military at the end of World War II was blown up off the coast of Kitakyushu on Sept. 25.

The U.S. military is believed to have laid more than 10,000 mines in ports and straits in Japan to disrupt sea lanes. Although most of them have been removed, the one blown up off the coast of Kitakyushu was found on the seabed recently during a survey conducted as part of an offshore wind power generation project.

Disposal operations still in are process in the sea even 78 years after the end of the war.

On the morning of Sept. 25, a countdown of five seconds until an explosion started aboard the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s minesweeper Ukushima, which was moored about 4 kilometers north off the coast of Wakamatsu Ward, Kitakyushu. At 11:15 a.m., with the sound of an explosion, a gray column of water rose to a height of about 100 meters along with sand and other debris from the seafloor. This writer was aboard the minesweeper, which was about 300 meters away, but felt an impact that was large enough to shake the deck.

According to the MSDF’s Sub Area Activity Shimonoseki, the mine was discovered on July 3 during an underwater survey for the construction of an offshore wind power plant. The mine was about 2 meters long and about 60 centimeters in diameter. It is believed to have contained about 450 kilograms of gunpowder.

The mine is believed to have been dropped by a U.S. B-29 bomber sometime between March and August 1945 and was found on the seabed at a depth of 22 meters about 4 kilometers from shore. Thirteen bombs and artillery shells were also found scattered in the area.

For the detonation, vessels were prohibited to enter an area within a radius of 300 meters from the point where the mine was discovered.

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