TOKYO (TR) – Officials with Nishi-Tokyo City said on Monday that about 2,900 firearms, swords and other weapons likely from the former Imperial Japanese Army have been found buried at an elementary school, reports NHK (Aug. 6).
On July 27, a construction crew conducting excavation work in a yard at the Tanashi Elementary School found a large quantity of rifles buried at a depth of a around 2 meters.
Police officers later arrived at the scene and began an investigation. Working with the city and Japan Self-Defense Forces, officers removed a total of around 1,400 rifles and machine guns, about 1,200 swords, 302 bullets and 8 hand grenades for practice — all of which had become heavily encrusted with rust — at the school by August 3.
【動画ニュース】小学校敷地から銃や刀剣、砲弾など 約2900点 東京 田無小学校（動画24秒）https://t.co/ZY7q2bQxt7 #nhk_news pic.twitter.com/HVnMW13Qih
— NHKニュース (@nhk_news) August 6, 2018
According to the officials, the site was a school during World Ward II. The weapons were likely dumped at the conclusion of the war in 1945.
City officials will now work with police to properly dispose of the weapons.
