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SOUTH IZU, Shizuoka Prefecture: Manmade caves and tunnels are found in many parts of the Izu Peninsula in Japan.
They were dug during World War 2 for people to use as an evacuation place, and to store torpedo boats.
Today they are used as a storage area for all kinds of seafood.
In one such tunnel, there are tanks filled with water, holding gigantic Japanese spider crabs which are considered to be the largest known anthropod.
"We're utilising a shelter. It's been renovated by our fishery union as a storage place, to keep what we've fished," said Isao Yamada, member of Izu Fisher's Cooperative's Minami Izu Branch.
"All year round the temperature inside is stable. In the summer it's cool, in the winter its warm. The water temperature is stable too. So it's just right," he explained.
At other times of the year, they store spiny lobsters and turban shells when there is an abundant catch.
But most locals are not aware of the historical significance of the tunnels.
The 51st special torpedo boat unit is believed to have been formed just a few months before the end of World War 2 in 1945.
According to residents, members of the unit stayed in various inns in a nearby area called Koina.
"They stayed here. They all came from elsewhere. There were those from Gunma, from Hokkaido, and some said they came from Ito. Some of those who came back here often are remembered," said Koina resident Mitsuko Takuechi.
It is not clear how many actually drove torpedo boats and launched suicide attacks from Koina.
- CNA/ha
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