May 18, 2008
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TOKYO — A fire official says more than 16,000 people were evacuated from a Tokyo suburb while an unexploded 1-ton bomb believed was defused. The bomb was believed to have been dropped by the U.S. military during World War II. The rusty bomb was defused by a team from Japan's Self-Defense Force in Chofu, on the outskirts of Tokyo, said Tokyo Fire Department official Shigeru Ishikawa. "Residents stayed at nearby public schools for evacuation," Ishikawa said. About 16,490 people had to leave their homes for about two hours, he said. The bomb, believed to have been dropped by a B-29 bomber, was found by construction workers in March.
Not my pic - from Yahoo.ne.jp newsThis was on our Keio Line between Kokuryo and Tsutsujigaoka stations. They are putting Chofu Station underground because that station is too small to handle all of the traffic that passes through it. The platforms are small and sometimes dangerously crowded. During the construction they and ran across this war souvenir. How many times have I been on a train passing by this dud? I remember a friend telling me that his grandmother had to gather up his newborn mother and evacuate the hospital in Chofu during a bombing raid. I wonder if this was a leftover from that time.
