Tainan Shinto Shrine Bomb Monument

Date CapturedMarch 23rd, 2026 at 07:01 UTCCameraDC-S5M2LensLUMIX S 20-60mm F3.5-5.6Apertureƒ / 6.3Shutter Speed1/320 secFocal Length20.0 mmISO100Exposure Value13.6 EVOriginal Size3600 × 2400

A 250 kg iron bomb on the grounds of Zhongyi Elementary School (忠義國小), originally installed in the outer periphery of Tainan Shrine (臺南神社) in 1940. The model was one of ten manufactured in Japan and donated to major shrines across Taiwan as a votive offering (奉納) to commemorate the 2600th anniversary of the Japanese imperial era (紀元二千六百年), funded jointly by active-duty navy personnel and retired veterans. For decades, locals believed the object was either unexploded American ordinance from wartime air raids or a decoy meant to educate civilians about the threat of aerial bombardment. Investigations by the Ministry of National Defense confirmed it to be an inert bombshell with no explosive charge. Of the original ten, only three survive: one from Taiwan-jinja, now on display at the National Military Museum, and another from Takao-jinja, only recovered from Shoushan in 2015 and now in the collection of the Kaohsiung Museum of History.