Japanese Grenade Parts Transformed from Trash to Treasure
Kawagoe, Japan What was once a desperate measure of wartime ingenuity has become art to some Japanese citizens. Residents in an area just outside of Tokyo have transformed ceramic grenade casings into flower vases and garden decor.
When iron supplies began to run low during WWII, Japan's military ordered potters across the country to make grenades. Today, thousands of the ceramic casings litter Kawagoe city's Kugedo neighborhood, where a one such munitions factory made the grenades for the imperial armed forces.