About 1,400 Buried WW2 Firearms Found at a Japanese Elementary School

[ArcadiaGP]

About 1,400 Buried WW2 Firearms Found at a Japanese Elementary School

About 1,400 firearms and 1,200 swords believed to be from the period of World War II were discovered buried at an elementary school in western Tokyo, city officials said Monday.

Grenades, bullets and cannonballs were also found one to two meters underneath the grounds of the Tanashi Elementary School in the city of Ni****okyo.

The discovery of the cache of weapons came during excavation work that began in July linked to the construction of a building, the officials said.

 

[STEEL CORE]

Bonzai!

 

[shotgun0311]

I was on Okinawa and we were doing a tour of battle sights. Some men were doing construction and dug up an old grenade. The whole thing was cool and nerve racking at the same time this guy was handling it like it was a tennis ball.

 

[KellyinAvon]

If the Emperor hadn't have announced surrender they wouldn't have been buried long. Not a good area to bury weapons long-term. In Libya they were pulling operable .303 Lee-Enfields out of the ground a few years back. Japan? Not so much.

 

[femurphy77]

Not Japan but still somewhat related: when I was in Jr high in Germany they were digging a foundation for a new gym and dug up an old German bunker. No ordinance was found but a bunch of helmets, map containers, gas masks and other supplies were found. The construction workers let the students have them but the teachers confiscated everything "for our safety". This was '71.

 

[eldirector]

Ni****okyo? What a strange name.

Of course they are buried at a school. If you know your enemy would hesitate to bomb a school, that is the best place to stash things. Folks have been hiding behind children for eons.

 

[churchmouse]

Not Japan but still somewhat related: when I was in Jr high in Germany they were digging a foundation for a new gym and dug up an old German bunker. No ordinance was found but a bunch of helmets, map containers, gas masks and other supplies were found. The construction workers let the students have them but the teachers confiscated everything "for our safety". This was '71.

Yeah and I bet they might still have some of that stuff or it is still in the family.

 

[1775usmarine]

I was on Okinawa and we were doing a tour of battle sights. Some men were doing construction and dug up an old grenade. The whole thing was cool and nerve racking at the same time this guy was handling it like it was a tennis ball.

In 2008 when we got back from leave from our second deployment we did the tunnel rats tour. The guide specifically said do not touch anything and if you see a grenade inform him so they could get someone out. Well we were about ready to leave for the day and Joseph a big black dude goes over to the guide and asks him what is this. He asks where he got it and he pointed. The guide then yells for us to get out of the cave. I got pictures from other guys in my platoon that captured that moment.

 

[Mgderf]

Looking at the condition, I'd say the intent was that they be recovered fairly quickly.
It doesn't appear any attempt was made to preserve them long-term.

I'd bet some-one was looking at an uprising shortly after the end of WWII.
How many more caches are still out there?

 

[STEEL CORE]

Last time I was in Korea 81-82, they uncovered a Chinese 3 man mortar crew digging a foundation behind the MP barracks for a new Shopette.

The mortar was smashed, the rounds degenerated, and Hu we, Du we, and Lu we, were mere skeletons in Chinese uniform rags.

They boxed them in wooden containers, and put a UN flag on the boxes and we took them to the DMZ, the North Koreans couldn't give a $#!+.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I'd bet some-one was looking at an uprising shortly after the end of WWII.
How many more caches are still out there?

Dozens if not more.

Hell, 10th Group and SAS have lost more caches than that in Germany. Every once in a while the Germans, Austrians or Danes did up a big cache. Usually company sized.

I think after the Cold War, we (USA) admitted to 75 caches just in Austria. UK and France likely have dozens more on top of ours.

This does not count what OSS squirreled away in Europe and then the Christians in Action have had there for decades.

 

[actaeon277]

And yet people are proclaiming how "evil" it was to drop the bomb.

 

[Dirtebiker]

I wonder if the swords/bayonets were somewhat protected by their sheaths?

 

[Spear Dane]

Ni****okyo? What a strange name.

Of course they are buried at a school. If you know your enemy would hesitate to bomb a school, that is the best place to stash things. Folks have been hiding behind children for eons.

They weren't just hiding. They taught their school kids how to fight, how to suicide bomb tanks.

 

[DangerousDave]

I hope they didn't destroy them. Japanese gun parts are getting hard to find. Hope some place like Sarco or Gun Parts gets to buy them.