The Great Tokyo Air Raid
— Passing the Record About an Unprecedented Massacre on to the Next Generation

The Center of the Tokyo Raid and War Damages

The Kitasuna area of Koutou Ward is in the eastern part of Tokyo located between the Sumida and Arakawa rivers, and facing Tokyo Bay. Kitasuna is an old town that has been shaped by industry. Now, the area is packed with houses and apartments and is rather quiet. Back in World War II, however, Kitasuna was severely damaged by the Tokyo air raids.

In 1945, Japan was losing its ability to continue fighting the war due to its decreasing war weapon production capabilities and strained and battered military forces. When Japan’s impending loss became apparent early that year, the United States Air Force on March 10th sent 300 B29 bombers over Tokyo to bomb the capital. Flying low, they attacked the most densely populated areas and old towns of Tokyo with M69 massive firebombs that contained 38 bomblets each.

Many houses were incinerated by the relentless bombings, and the area turned into a sea of fire. The town, filled with black smoke, had become a fiery inferno. Around 100,000 people were said to have been killed, and more than 1,000,000 people are assumed to have suffered in the disaster. Approximately 60% of the urban districts were burnt down, reducing the population of the ward by half.

For the purpose of handing down records of the horror experienced in the area to future generations, the Center of the Tokyo Raid and War Damages was established in the area of Kitasuna that suffered the most severe damage. One of the founders is SAOTOME Katsumoto, the head director and a writer who has written about the incident. Saotome was born in Mukoujima in Tokyo in 1932, and experienced the great Tokyo air raid himself when he was 12 years old.

“North, south, east and west, everything in our vision was burning fire, that is all,” recalls Saotome. Most houses in Japan were built of wood at that time, and the ones in Kitasuna were destroyed by firebombs containing a type of fatty oil. “I could not see anything because of the smoke. I was in a state of panic. I just ran feverishly to the Sumida river,” he says. It is believed that the United States purposely chose a windy day for their attack to maximize damage and casualties.

Running all throughout the night, Saotome and his family arrived at the riverside at around six o’clock, looking at the rising sun. He remembers, “burnt air raid hoods and clothings were floating on the river, and the buckles of men’s belts, and the sight of flesh and blood stained on the bridge were telling the desaster of the air raid attack more than anything else. On the other side of the river where almost everything had burnt down, the ghostly shape of the concrete Matsuya department store stood looming.”

100,000 Killed in Two and a Half Hours
To pass on the memories of those hard days, Saotome became a writer and has not only been energetically writing about the Tokyo air raids, but has also been writing novels for youth as well. Based on his own experiences, Saotome launched an association for the purpose of “recording memories of the Tokyo air raids” in 1970, and with the support of the Tokyo Government, they began collecting and gathering information and related artifacts. However, due to the change in Tokyo governors, the city’s support of the construction of the center was frozen.

“We cannot let it be terminated like this,” Saotome said, stating that he had to hesitantly depend on private nongovernmental fund raising. However, it turned out that more than 4,000 people contributed money and assistance. In March 2002, the Center of the Tokyo Raid and War Damages was finally built. At the center, related information and materials such as a replica of an M69 firebomb are on show and war-related films can be viewed.

The center also has a book room of air raid related books as well as books written by Saotome. One of the unique services the center provides is one where people who actually experienced the air raid can attend to visitors, providing them with their own stories of the incident. With sensitive and down-to-earth explanations of the event, accurate images can be produced in visitors’ minds.

“All the friends who played with me on the before the attack night died,” says NIHEI Haruyo, who experienced the Tokyo air raid, who visited the center and explained her own story. “They recognized the dead bodies by counting five buttons, one belt or one purse as one person,” She continues, “This experience has been too hard for me and I have been keeping it to myself.” But calling on her own strength, she realized that it was her duty to voluntarily pass this information down. The center is popular among school and social tours comprised of field trippers. It was expanded into a larger building in the spring of 2007.

It is easy to forget the Tokyo air raids when compared to the devastation caused by the Atomic bombs. “However, the bombing of Tokyo was a massacre unparalleled in human history, killing 100,000 people in just two and a half hours,” Saotome says, adding that through the center he will continue passing down about a tragedy that should never be repeated.

* Saotome published a set of five books using information collected by The Association for Recording the Tokyo Air Raid, which won the Kikuchi-Kan award.

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