[masraum]

https://www.stripes.com/news/misawa-aims-to-turn-rediscovered-wwii-era-bunker-into-museum-1.145686

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — A possible World War II-era bunker that survived the intense U.S. bombing of the area more than 60 years ago might be turned into a museum, if base officials have their way.

Richard Clark, 35th Fighter Wing historian, said he was going to look at a used car and the owner mentioned that two of his troops had stumbled across the bunker in a wooded area on Misawa, home to the Japanese Imperial Navy during the war. Clark immediately went to the site, which was buried in the woods.

“I felt like Indiana Jones climbing down into the pit,” he joked. He said he was amazed at the condition of the 18-foot-long, 13-foot-wide cement bunker, which had a 10-foot-high, arched metal roof.

It was quickly obvious that it had been “discovered” at some point years ago. Old Budweiser beer cans litter the bunker, a lantern dangles from the ceiling and a musty carpet is spread across the floor. Clark said the beer cans appear to date to the 1970s and troops might have once used the bunker “as a hang-out place.”

But, “we’ve rediscovered it,” he said.