In a dramatic and unexpected incident, a World War II-era bomb buried beneath the bustling Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan detonated on Wednesday, leaving a massive crater in the middle of a taxiway and forcing the cancellation of over 80 flights.
Fortunately, no aircraft were in the vicinity at the time, and no injuries were reported. However, the explosion was a stark reminder of the dangerous remnants of a war that ended nearly 80 years ago but continues to cast its shadow.
According to Japan’s Land and Transport Ministry officials, the explosion was traced back to a 500-pound bomb dating from World War II. While the exact cause of the detonation remains unclear, the blast sent pieces of asphalt flying into the air, as captured by a nearby aviation school’s camera.
An unexploded WW II bomb detonated near the runway of Miyazaki Airport in Japan, causing a 7m wide crater and the cancellation of 87 flights. The airport, which has a history of similar incidents, was temporarily closed, but no injuries were reported.pic.twitter.com/aphByhqlKy
— 𝙊𝙎𝙄𝙉𝙏𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 (@OSINT_Reporter) October 2, 2024
Videos later broadcast on Japanese TV showed a gaping crater, roughly 20 feet wide and 3 feet deep, scarring the surface of the airport’s taxiway. This incident halted operations at the international airport, with officials scrambling to assess the damage and ensure safety before resuming flights, which are hoped to restart by Thursday morning.
Miyazaki Airport has a deep historical connection to World War II, having been built in 1943 as an Imperial Japanese Navy flight training facility. Some of Japan’s infamous kamikaze pilots took off from this very site on their suicide missions, adding a grim layer of significance to this modern-day event. The explosion of a long-buried bomb from that era adds a sobering reminder of the destructive past tied to this location.
The detonation is just the latest example of the ongoing challenges Japan faces with unexploded ordnance left behind by the U.S. military during World War II. According to Defense Ministry officials, the area around Miyazaki has seen a number of these bombs unearthed over the years, especially at construction sites. In fact, across the country, hundreds of tons of unexploded bombs still lie buried, a perilous legacy of the war. The bomb at Miyazaki Airport is far from unique—Japan continues to grapple with finding and safely defusing these buried explosives.
NEW: WW2 bomb explodes at a Japanese airport after being buried for 80 years.
The explosion caused a massive crater and led to 80 canceled flights at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan.
The 20-foot wide crater was caused by a 500-pound WW2 bomb.
It’s unclear why exactly… pic.twitter.com/8x7SIpYazp
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 2, 2024
This incident underscores the long-lasting impact of warfare, particularly in a country like Japan, which was heavily bombed in the final stages of World War II. Even as the nation has rebuilt and modernized, these hidden remnants of conflict still pose a threat to daily life. While Wednesday’s explosion did not result in casualties, it serves as a reminder that the past is never too far away, buried beneath the surface, waiting to make itself known once again.
