Japan: four injured in an explosion at a US military base

Eva Deschamps / June 13, 2025

An explosion in an old bomb storage shed at a US military base in Okinawa, southern Japan, left four people injured, a fire official said on Monday.

At the time of the explosion, members of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) were attempting to remove rust from items stored at a temporary storage site, owned by the SDF, to confirm that they were indeed explosive devices, Akira Kamiunten, a local fire official, told AFP.

It was during this process that the explosion occurred, injuring four members of the SDF who were quickly hospitalized, he added.

The Jiji Press news agency and other local media claimed, without specifying their source, that the injured were not life-threatening.

A spokesman for the Japanese Ministry of Defense has confirmed reports of an explosion at the US military airbase at Kadena.

During the Second World War, Japan used Okinawa to slow the advance of American forces. More than a quarter of the main island's civilian population was killed in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.

American occupation of this part of Japan only ended in 1972, via a treaty that keeps American bases in place.

Okinawa currently accounts for 70% of the area occupied by US bases on Japanese territory. The archipelago is home to more than half of the 50,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan.

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Japan: four injured in an explosion at a US military base

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