A Japanese weapons disposal team has recovered about 1,000 artillery shells, including 281 armed with chemicals, left in China by the Imperial Japanese Army at the end of World War II, the Cabinet Office said Tuesday.
Japan will dispose of the shells, which were dug up and collected between Aug. 30 and Sunday in Yichun, Heilongjiang Province, the office said.
The chemical weapons were discovered July 29 in a residential area. There have been no injuries caused by the abandoned weapons.
In August 2003, poison gas leaked from Japanese chemical weapons at a construction site in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, killing one person and injuring 43 others.