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War not only costs soldiers’ lives, it also kills the citizens of a country. The reality of the Great Tokyo Air Raid, which took the lives of 100,000 people in a single night, must be passed on to future generations, and the circumstances that led to the country being reduced to scorched earth must be contemplated.
In the early hours of March 10, 1945, toward the end of World War II, about 300 B-29 bombers from U.S. forces dropped incendiary bombs on the low-lying area of Tokyo, burning it to the ground. This clearly demonstrates that war puts the lives of many people at risk, whether they are on the front line or on the home front.
Initially, U.S. air raids mainly targeted military factories. However, after the Great Tokyo Air Raid, the inhumane operation of indiscriminate nighttime bombing from low altitudes using incendiary bombs was fully implemented with the aim of sapping the fighting spirit of the Japanese people.
By the end of the war, many cities had been reduced to ashes. It is said that the U.S. military even researched methods of efficiently burning down Japanese wooden houses. War probably can make people very cruel.
The devastation of the air raids has been passed down through the generations. However, as the 80th anniversary of the end of the war approaches, the survivors are growing old. Efforts must be strengthened to ensure that their memories are not forgotten.
The Tokyo metropolitan government, which designated March 10 as Peace Day, plans to release video footage of the testimony of about 170 people, including people experienced the air raids, at the Edo-Tokyo Museum from fiscal 2025. The privately run Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage is displaying part of a wall of a hospital that was turned black by the fierce flames.
It is hoped that the postwar generation will also view such materials and feel the tragedy of war. It is important to train young storytellers and convey the reality of the air raids. It should never be forgotten that there are still people who suffer physical and mental scars from the air raids.
Also, attention should be paid to the reasons why the war continued until the country was reduced to scorched earth.
The U.S. military took over Saipan, which was considered a key point in Japan’s line of defense, in July 1944 and used it as a base for the air raids on Japan’s mainland.
At that point, there were some in the Japanese military who thought that there was no longer any chance of victory and the war should be brought to an end. However, the leaders continued to drag out the war for more than a year in places such as the Philippines, Iwo Jima (now formally called Iwoto) and Okinawa.
It has been argued that many of the about 3.1 million war dead lost their lives in the final year of the war after the fall of Saipan. The sin of repeatedly calling for the “completion of the war” and a “decisive battle on the mainland” without any certainty of victory is grave.
Having learned from such tragic lessons, Japan has maintained peace for 80 years.
The video footage and photos of Tokyo, which was reduced to a pile of rubble by the air raids, echo the devastation in Ukraine, which is currently suffering from Russian aggression. Japan should appeal to the world about the importance of peace and play a leading role in resolving the ongoing conflicts in various parts of the world and in reconstructing the international order.
