FUKUOKA -- The Japanese transport ministry is surveying Fukuoka Airport in this city's Hakata Ward for unexploded ordnance after the detonation of a Pacific War-era dud bomb at Miyazaki Airport in the city of Miyazaki this October.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the survey covers a total area of 100,000 square meters, including areas called shoulders on both sides of runways. It is being conducted at night to avoid takeoff and landing times from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and scans up to about 2 meters below the ground surface. It is reportedly expected to be completed within this fiscal year.

The ministry began the survey on Dec. 16 and showed the work to the press on the night of Dec. 17. Workers were seen quietly moving the survey equipment mounted on a cart along the illuminated paved areas beside a runway.

At Miyazaki Airport, a 250-kilogram bomb, believed to have been dropped by the U.S. military during the Pacific War, exploded in a taxiway on Oct. 2. This prompted the transport ministry to conduct emergency surveys at Miyazaki, Sendai, Matsuyama, Fukuoka and Naha airports.

Fukuoka Airport was constructed by the former Imperial Japanese Army as Mushiroda Airfield in May 1945, toward the end of the war. There are no records of it being a target for major U.S. air raids like Miyazaki Airport was, and it was seized and used by U.S. forces as Itazuke Air Base after the war. Considering this history, it is not considered likely that many dud bombs are present.

However, there is a record that, when most of Fukuoka Airport's footprint was returned to Japan in 1972, a 500-kilogram bomb was found buried about 1.5 meters deep near its runway. Additionally, because there are areas where past magnetic survey records cannot be confirmed, the ministry deemed the survey necessary.

Takahiro Morishima, head of Fukuoka Airport, emphasized, "As an urban airport surrounded by residential areas, we want to conduct a thorough survey to ensure the safety and security of the residents."

(Japanese original by Masanori Hirakawa, Kyushu News Department; video by Takeshi Noda, Kyushu Photo and Video Department)