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Ceremony held to mark 79th anniversary of U.S. firebombings of Tokyo

73 Comments

A memorial service was held in Tokyo on Sunday to mark the 79th anniversary of the U.S. firebombings of the city during World War II.

The Buddhist service, held at Tokyo Metropolitan Memorial Hall in Sumida Ward, was attended by about 200 people, including Crown Prince Akishino and his wife, Crown Princess Kiko, Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike and bereaved relatives of those who died in the air raids, Kyodo News reported.

In the early hours of March 10, 1945, during the final stages of the Pacific War, Tokyo came under heavy bombardment from more than 300 U.S. B-29 bombers which dropped incendiary bombs on parts of the capital, mainly on populous residential areas in eastern Tokyo, killing an estimated 100,000 people.

Tokyo suffered more than 100 bombing raids during the war, with 60 percent of the metropolis destroyed, according to the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage.

After the March 10 raids, the United States attacked other cities and towns across Japan, before eventually dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima on Aug 6 and on Nagasaki on Aug 9, 1945.

© Japan Today/Kyodo

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That was a crime against humanity.

4 ( +29 / -25 )

I understand ceremonies about nuclear bombings.

But about others ? You don't celebrate when you were the aggressor normally. It was bound to happen and can only blame themselves.

-22 ( +19 / -41 )

In the early hours of March 10, 1945, during the final stages of the Pacific War, Tokyo came under heavy bombardment

Don't forget who started first, December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor

-21 ( +24 / -45 )

The Tokyo Firebombing - a true display of the Insanity of War.

First the act itself - targeting industry, but knowing full well millions of civilians were directly in the bombing zones. And the use of incendiary bombs - napalm and phosphorous - was used knowingly to cause the maximum destruction and death over the widest area - 60% of Tokyo obliterated, 100, 000 killed and 1 million injured many horrifically. McArthur himself acknowledged that these were probably war crimes.

Second - that the Japanese powers to be at that time did not surrender, knowing full well that defeat would be inevitable. The Tokyo attack resulted in the firebombing campaign of all major cities in Japan over the ensuing months culminating in the Atomic bombs being dropped.

That the Japanese political leaders, military leaders and the emperor all ignored this devastation - pre-atomic - resulting in further deaths and injuries to millions.

Just insane.

19 ( +23 / -4 )

Horror of war remembered, and yet so many still so in favor of numerous US NATO led conflicts across the globe these past decades. Seems only those societies that are bombed into the stone ages, actually remember.

-14 ( +9 / -23 )

That the Japanese political leaders, military leaders and the emperor all ignored this devastation - pre-atomic - resulting in further deaths and injuries to millions.

Just insane.

So those who don’t surrender are complicit in the war crimes? How would you apply that to today?

-5 ( +9 / -14 )

It’s better to be friends with America, otherwise it might happen again

-32 ( +3 / -35 )

Re; quercetumToday 05:33 pm JST

That the Japanese political leaders, military leaders and the emperor all ignored this devastation - pre-atomic - resulting in further deaths and injuries to millions.

Just insane.

So those who don’t surrender are complicit in the war crimes? How would you apply that to today?

Browny1 never mentioned "war crimes" or "complicity."

He wrote about the insanity. Twice.

As for applying his thoughts to "today".

I would say , "a true display of the insanity of war", fits pretty well.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Gen. Curtis LeMay and his subordinate Robert McNamara planned the Great Tokyo Air Raid and carried it out. While designing the master plan, they talked with each other, saying that they could be subjected to a war crime tribunal if the U.S. lost the war. So, both men were fully aware of what they were doing.

5 ( +13 / -8 )

But about others ? You don't celebrate when you were the aggressor normally. It was bound to happen and can only blame themselves.

This is a day to remember the dead, and people are already using whatboutism to deflect the blame.

15 ( +21 / -6 )

The question that's never really asked is what really triggers these brutal wars and conflict. It's actually not random, but rather a combination of exploitation and weaponization of 'soft powers', especially economic, technological, media, institutional, cultural, etc.

-9 ( +3 / -12 )

HopeSpringsEternalToday 05:28 pm JST

Horror of war remembered, and yet so many still so in favor of numerous US NATO led conflicts across the globe these past decades. Seems only those societies that are bombed into the stone ages, actually remember.

Zero NATO caused conflicts atm. 1 Russian caused conflict (well major one, many others in Africa).

The question that's never really asked is what really triggers these brutal wars and conflict. It's actually not random, but rather a combination of exploitation and weaponization of 'soft powers', especially economic, technological, media, institutional, cultural, etc.

Yes, "soft power" is evil. Said no one ever.

3 ( +11 / -8 )

Much like Tokyo, entire Mid-East, many countries in Africa and West Asia remember well US NATO led carpet bombing campaigns and occupation all these decades.

Maybe that's why they're all so busy joining the BRICS?! Thus, definitely not interested in continued US domestic interference and US satellite 'puppet' Democracy.

Seems wars do have consequences, many take decades to playout, but catalyst of carpet bombs never forgotten.

-9 ( +3 / -12 )

Regarding voiceofokinawa's comment above, below is what Robert McNamara said in a later interview about the bombing.

"We burned to death 100,000 Japanese civilians in Tokyo – men, women, and children… [U.S. General] Lemay recognized that what he was doing would be thought immoral if his side had lost … But what makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win? LeMay said ‘if we’d lost the war, we’d all have been prosecuted as war criminals’. And I think he’s right – and I’d say – we were behaving as war criminals."

6 ( +10 / -4 )

Yes, "soft power" is evil. Said no one ever.

Above rather naive to put it mildly. Guess you would deny US oil embargo (soft power) of Japan in 1941 had no connection with Pearl Harbor and thus WW II, culminating in Tokyo carpet bombing, Hiroshima etc.?

Certainly, carpet bombing is easier to classify as evil, but many would view CIA led coups, US Treasury led FX destabilization and US Govt. sanctions of many stripes etc., as evil from their perspective, forming the basis for future tensions and conflict, often leading to kinetics.

-5 ( +6 / -11 )

HopeSpringsEternalToday 06:09 pm JST

Yes, "soft power" is evil. Said no one ever.

Above rather naive to put it mildly. Guess you would deny US oil embargo (soft power) of Japan in 1941 had no connection with Pearl Harbor and thus WW II, culminating in Tokyo carpet bombing, Hiroshima etc.?

If a country doesn't have a plan to get resources outside of the US, it ought to seriously reconsider angering the US and killing so many Chinese. Hardly soft power, though.

Certainly, carpet bombing is easier to classify as evil, but many would view CIA led coups, US Treasury led FX destabilization and US Govt. sanctions of many stripes etc., as evil from their perspective, forming the basis for future tensions and conflict, often leading to kinetics.

Sanctions can't be simultaneously ineffective and at the same time the cause of great evil. Also China should stop sanctioning OECD countries left and right.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Healthy for all to realize carpet bombing never happens in a vacuum, but rather result of many policies and actions taking place over years, that culminate in these terrible tragic wars.

-3 ( +6 / -9 )

NB: "That was a crime against humanity."

Would not have happened if not for Pearl Harbor... and of course the atrocities across Asia by Japan -- more slaughtered than by the Nazis.

-4 ( +14 / -18 )

voiceofokinawa: "Gen. Curtis LeMay and his subordinate Robert McNamara planned the Great Tokyo Air Raid and carried it out."

Japanese military planned the attack on Pearl Harbor and carried it out, knowing full well it could result in the destruction of Japan. Just thank your lucky stars Okinawa has American bases on it, not Russian or otherwise. In any case, they would not be there if Japan had not attacked first. You guys can try all you want to skip around that truth, but it doesn't change the fact that it remains a fact.

-10 ( +9 / -19 )

garymalgremn: "So those who don’t surrender are complicit in the war crimes? How would you apply that to today?"

Yes, in some ways. They waged a war of attrition, so much so that in Okinawa the military forced people off the cliffs in suicides, and if the people didn't want to go, they just bayonetted or shot them. Others they forced into mass suicides in caves, forcing people to pull the pins on grenades while huddling around them. This was in their refusal to surrender, and I would say every bit as heinous, if nor FAR moreso, than the firebombings. You don't think so?

-8 ( +8 / -16 )

It's good to remember and practice the age old commandment - "Thou shall not kill."

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

'' In the early hours of March 10, 1945, during the final stages of the Pacific War, Tokyo came under heavy bombardment from more than 300 U.S. B-29 bombers which dropped incendiary bombs on parts of the capital, mainly on populous residential areas in eastern Tokyo, killing an estimated 100,000 people. ''

Always PRAY for Peace and prosperity in a peaceful world even when your enemy is a war monger, do all you can to avoid a conflict bcz. in the end we all lose.

Japan has come along way since WW2 it's people are peace loving, it's constitution and the society has NO DESIRE what so ever for a conflict with anyone and I hope it stays that way.

But be vigilant and strong as Pres. R. Reagan once said "Peace Through Strength" is a must.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

NBToday  04:47 pm JST

That was a crime against humanity.

I see. And can you tell us, what you would have done, if you were the president? the commander? responsible for the lives of the people under your command. And furthermore, didn't we try the peaceful way.....SANCTIONs before the war?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Dr. Cajetan Coelho -

It's good to remember and practice the age old commandment - "Thou shall not kill."

Japan is not a Christian nation and does not follow the "Ten Commandments" as you suggest. Not many nations do.

Rest in Peace to the victims of WW2 on all sides.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Fighto!: "Japan is not a Christian nation and does not follow the "Ten Commandments" as you suggest. Not many nations do."

Perhaps that's why the much, MUCH worse atrocities committed against men and women across Asia by the IJA, then them turning around and saying it never happened and they are the victim, then enshrining war criminals at Yasukuni. Don't need to be accountable at all.

-6 ( +9 / -15 )

Jonathan PrinToday  04:51 pm JST

I understand ceremonies about nuclear bombings.

But about others ? You don't celebrate when you were the aggressor normally. It was bound to happen and can only blame themselves.

This is a memorial ceremony, not a celebration.

Furthermore, no one is "blaming" anyone, only that War is evil.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

Jonathan PrinToday  04:51 pm JST

I understand ceremonies about nuclear bombings.

But about others ? You don't celebrate when you were the aggressor normally. It was bound to happen and can only blame themselves.

Show us 1 case where the Japanese targeted US civilians. The same can not be said about the USA

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

sakurasukiToday  05:09 pm JST

In the early hours of March 10, 1945, during the final stages of the Pacific War, Tokyo came under heavy bombardment

Don't forget who started first, December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor

I think you need to do some more history study. Why did the USA ignore 4 solid warnings Japan was going to hit Pearl? Why were all the brand new ships the USA had conveniently at sea doing exercises? BTW Japan attacked a military base. What did the USA do? Slaughtered thousands of Japanese civilians.

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

I wonder would they conduct that much carpet bombing against a Christian nation?

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

Show us 1 case where the Japanese targeted US civilians. The same can not be said about the USA

Actually correct.

Also in the same war, Russia certainly targeted German civilians - raping and killing hundreds of thousands of innocent German children and women. And the British targeted, bombed and killed countless German civilians in cities like Leipzig and many more.

The Japanese were not alone in terms of war crimes. The worst by far were the Russians.

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

Both Germany and Japan used terror as a weapon.

250,000 Chinese civilians intentionally killed as retribution for the perception that China was complicit in the Doolittle raid against Japan in 1942.

40,000 Dutch civilians intentionally starved to death in Sumatra, for no reason other than the Japanese leadership wanted them out of the way.

The Allies felt that using terror against both Germany and Japan was justified, under the circumstances.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Let's look at it from another perspective: Those, who died in the U.S. firebombings, died for the greater cause of mankind, so their sacrifices were not in vain. They should simply be celebrated as heroes and heroines, this will justify their deaths.

-10 ( +0 / -10 )

Saturation bombing - especially in places where ordinary people live - is a war crime. It's clear and simple, no matter which country is doing it.

It was the Axis powers which began saturation bombing before and during World War II. First, the fascists bombed the Spanish town of Guernica during that country's civil war. When the Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937, Chongqing and other Chinese cities had the distinction of being the "most bombed places on earth" by Japanese air raids. Most of the victims were civilians. The Luftwaffe mercilessly bombed London and other cities in Britain and other parts of Europe.

Then, the Allied powers stepped in. RAF "Bomber" Harris' raids on German cities, and Curtis LeMays intensive bombing of both German and Japanese cities before the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. More people died in total from conventional bombing than from the nuclear blasts - horrible as they were.

But remember. It was the Japanese who invaded and massacred their way through China and then Southeast Asia. And there is very credible evidence that the Japanese Army and Navy were working on developing a-bombs. Would the militarists have refrained from using them - or biological weapons - out of feelings of humanity? I doubt it.

If the Japanese hadn't invaded China, there would never have been an American March 10 bombing of Tokyo.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

This is just a memorial service that Japan swears it will not start war again and not get involved with any war. If war again, such enormous tragedy would happen again. Its pledge is working good as Japan has not had war for 79 years so far.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

@Alongfortheride

BTW Japan attacked a military base. What did the USA do? Slaughtered thousands of Japanese civilians.

What did Japan do in Nanjing? Raped and slaughtered countless thousands of civilians, for no even vaguely justifiable military reasons, with international witnesses in the city. This is just one example of the barbarity of the Japanese in WW2. The Japanese military of that time were animals, pure and simple.

The fact that they brought retribution on their own civilian population is regrettable, but something that the current generation ought to come to terms with (but never will, because that's air-brushed out of their school history texts).

1 ( +8 / -7 )

@Chibakun

I wonder would they conduct that much carpet bombing against a Christian nation?

What was done to Germany in WW2? Dresden is the classic case that everyone knows about (Yes, that was a British raid, but if the US had said "don't do it" it wouldn't have gone ahead), but many of their cities were reduced to ruins... beyond isolated industrial targets.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

The fire bombings of Japan killed more people than Nagasaki and Hiroshima combined and the US was always open about that fact but few in the west or Japan know that. Wonder why that is? Every city in Europe was fire bombed, nothing unique about war, but Japan loves to play the victim and as the only country to be nuked, Hiroshima and Nagasaki makes a better narrative.

-3 ( +8 / -11 )

Point\s all this madness and bad behavior on both sides of any conflict, culminates in carpet bombing and other atrocities. Usually, takes years or even decades before the bombs start to drop.

Never so simple as the media propaganda narrative in history or present day. Whether WW II and Tokyo carpet bombing or Ukraine or Gaza today, these conflicts were years and years in the making, all parties feeling their side is just etc.

History repeats itself, sadly. Winners continue to write the history books and the losers pay a heavy price, but we all pay some price, as these wars and conflicts take a heavy toll upon all of humanity in one way or another.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

ChibakunToday  07:44 pm JST

I wonder would they conduct that much carpet bombing against a Christian nation?

They did. Curtis LeMay was in charge of bombing Germany before Japan.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

History repeats itself, sadly. Winners continue to write the history books and the losers pay a heavy price, but we all pay some price, as these wars and conflicts take a heavy toll upon all of humanity in one way or another.

No one would argue with that, although it's worth emphasizing the "no one wins" part of that. Sometimes the "winners" suffer as much as the "losers", if not more so.

Britain in 1914 was the most powerful nation on the planet, but 4 years later was seriously wounded, and by 1945, after "winning" twice, was devastated. Moreover, the "losers", Germany & Japan, got massive post-war assistance from the US which helped them race past Britain in later years.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

AlongfortherideToday 07:39 pm JST

Jonathan PrinToday 04:51 pm JST

> I understand ceremonies about nuclear bombings.

> But about others ? You don't celebrate when you were the aggressor normally. It was bound to happen and can only blame themselves.

> Show us 1 case where the Japanese targeted US civilians. The same can not be said about the USA

The balloons they launched across the Pacific is one instance. They weren't very successful but they sure as hell were targeting US citizens. Also, before the main war, the IJA was bayoneting Chinese citizens and cutting babies out of pregnant women and there is a good amount of documentation. They also to told civilians living on Okinawa and Saipan to commit suicide because the Americans were coming to rape and torture them (lies). Stop trying to portray Japan as being some poor innocent country that had a war thrust upon them. They were aggressively rampaging across Asia and were an evil regime that needed to be stopped. What happened to them was a direct result of their military's own cruelty.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

1glennToday  08:32 pm JST

Both Germany and Japan used terror as a weapon.

250,000 Chinese civilians intentionally killed as retribution for the perception that China was complicit in the Doolittle raid against Japan in 1942.

That number sounds like exaggerated propaganda that was bering used at the time to fuel US anti-JPN sentiment further.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Show us 1 case where the Japanese targeted US civilians.

Operation cherry blossoms at night was a plan to literally drop plague bombs on California

0 ( +1 / -1 )

AlongfortherideMar. 10 07:39 pm JST

Jonathan PrinToday  04:51 pm JST

I understand ceremonies about nuclear bombings.

But about others ? You don't celebrate when you were the aggressor normally. It was bound to happen and can only blame themselves.

Show us 1 case where the Japanese targeted US civilians. The same can not be said about the USA

The balloon bombs and mini-subs they tried to use against the US. Don't doubt for a second they wouldn't have struck US population centers if they could.

I think you need to do some more history study. Why did the USA ignore 4 solid warnings Japan was going to hit Pearl? Why were all the brand new ships the USA had conveniently at sea doing exercises? BTW Japan attacked a military base. What did the USA do? Slaughtered thousands of Japanese civilians.

Warnings of fleet movements is not a declaration of war. Meanwhile they were pretending to negotiate for peace.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

BTW Japan attacked a military base. What did the USA do? Slaughtered thousands of Japanese civilians.

Are you under the impression that Japan never slaughtered civilians? If so I have some really bad news for you..

1 ( +3 / -2 )

MeiyouwentiMar. 10 09:21 pm JST

The US has never apologized for the fire bombings of Tokyo, let alone the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan retains the right to retaliate in kind against the US for the genocide it committed.

No need to apologize for ending Japan's war of aggression. Want to reopen WW2, do you?

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

HopeSpringsEternalMar. 10 09:56 pm JST

Point\s all this madness and bad behavior on both sides of any conflict, culminates in carpet bombing and other atrocities. Usually, takes years or even decades before the bombs start to drop.

Never so simple as the media propaganda narrative in history or present day. Whether WW II and Tokyo carpet bombing or Ukraine or Gaza today, these conflicts were years and years in the making, all parties feeling their side is just etc.

Nothing two-sides about WW2 or Ukraine. A War of Aggression is a War of Aggression and a war crime.

History repeats itself, sadly. Winners continue to write the history books and the losers pay a heavy price, but we all pay some price, as these wars and conflicts take a heavy toll upon all of humanity in one way or another.

Not as heavy a toll as normalizing taking territory by force.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

After directing the fire bombing of Tokyo and other cities in Japan Gen. Curtis LeMay ordered the same thing done in Korea. How many innocent civilians did this war criminal kill?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

An important difference being that many structures in Tokyo and other Japanese cities were built from flammable wood. This was not the case in Germany.

They did. Curtis LeMay was in charge of bombing Germany before Japan.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

deanzaZZRToday 03:53 am JST

After directing the fire bombing of Tokyo and other cities in Japan Gen. Curtis LeMay ordered the same thing done in Korea. How many innocent civilians did this war criminal kill?

Implying keeping South Korea independent wasn't a noble goal.

An important difference being that many structures in Tokyo and other Japanese cities were built from flammable wood. This was not the case in Germany.

Are you suggesting he should have used less incendiary bombs when Japan was on a total war course?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Are you suggesting he should have used less incendiary bombs when Japan was on a total war course?

Thats exactly what he’s suggesting. Every argument they have can be boiled down to “America bad so if America did it it’s bad”

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I'm implying that my MIL's family's business that was burnt down in Osaka was not a military target. My FIL fled to safety in his ancestral village in Nagano because of the indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Tokyo.

That so many American posters get butt hurt with the mildest suggestion that American is in the wrong is hilarious.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

What has actually been learnt, what has such destruction offered present day global community on the 79th anniversary of the U.S. firebombing of the city during World War II?

The Governments of China/Russia appear to have taken over where imperial Japan government Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy (1889–1947) left off

1 ( +1 / -0 )

桜川雪Today 06:45 am JST

smithinjapan:

Mar. 10  06:53 pm JST

NB: "That was a crime against humanity."

Would not have happened if not for Pearl Harbor...

"And the russian invasion wouldn't have happened if the Ukrainians didn't remove their sitting president in the revolution."

Blaming others for attacks is not preferred.

Yanukovych was not a Russian governor of Ukraine (allegedly).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Donald Seekins:

Would the militarists have refrained from using [nuclear weapons] - or biological weapons - out of feelings of humanity? I doubt it.

So, America had to commit evil/war crimes to fight evil/war crimes? I'm sure if a defendant brought this argument, the judge would laugh him out of court.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

No wonder this country is miserable. Every anniversary of death gets a mention, not just the round numbers.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

桜川雪Today 06:49 am JST

Donald Seekins:

Would the militarists have refrained from using [nuclear weapons] - or biological weapons - out of feelings of humanity? I doubt it.

So, America had to commit evil/war crimes to fight evil/war crimes? I'm sure if a defendant brought this argument, the judge would laugh him out of court.

We don't live in a world in which a judge can put a stop to bad countries. Sometimes you have to do unto others before they can do unto you.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

smithinjapan (Mar. 10  07:00 pm JST),

Facts about Pearl Harbor and Great Tokyo Air Raid:

Pearl Harbor--

Military personnel deaths: 2488

Civilian deaths: 46

 

 Great Tokyo Air Raid--

 Mostly civilian deaths: about 100,000

 

If the Tokyo Air Raid was carried out in retaliation against the Pearl Harbor Attack and IPA soldiers' atrocities in Southeast Asia, the differential in these figures is absolutely too much.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

voiceofokinawaToday 08:28 am JST

If the Tokyo Air Raid was carried out in retaliation against the Pearl Harbor Attack and IPA soldiers' atrocities in Southeast Asia, the differential in these figures is absolutely too much.

Now do Nanjing. If the US is going to fight for China, it should be able to use the same level of brutality to protect its troops.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Just for the record, I'd like to remind the readers here that those were "white" pilots who dropped those bombs. There were many ethnic groups within the United States at that time. We should not all be lumped together. I truly hope Japanese can recognize the difference, but doubtful at the same time.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

browny1Mar. 10  05:15 pm JST

The Tokyo Firebombing - a true display of the Insanity of War.

First the act itself - targeting industry, but knowing full well millions of civilians were directly in the bombing zones. And the use of incendiary bombs - napalm and phosphorous - was used knowingly to cause the maximum destruction and death over the widest area - 60% of Tokyo obliterated, 100, 000 killed and 1 million injured many horrifically. McArthur himself acknowledged that these were probably war crimes.

Second - that the Japanese powers to be at that time did not surrender, knowing full well that defeat would be inevitable. The Tokyo attack resulted in the firebombing campaign of all major cities in Japan over the ensuing months culminating in the Atomic bombs being dropped.

That the Japanese political leaders, military leaders and the emperor all ignored this devastation - pre-atomic - resulting in further deaths and injuries to millions.

Just insane.

It is insane. The fire bombings were also done in Europe during WW2, BTW. These remembrances are essential, not just as a memorial to the dead. When I took a humanities requirements course in college, we had to read a translated book from a Japanese author who lived during the WW2 fascist era. And like Hitler, Tojo also was a fascist. Near the end of the book the author describes how the Japanese people felt ashamed because they were lied to by their own government. The fascist regime controlled all media and they lied to the people of Japan, told them fibs all along. Told them 'everybody else is against us, waaaahhhh'. Et tu, Hitler, Milosevic, trump? Because of this, the people had to suffer and when the totalitarian regime was toppled, the veil of smoggy untruths was lifted. Now Japan is a different place, a better place, a democracy.

It must be kept as a reminder not to fall for those 'nationalistic'/jingoistic fairy tales and paranoia ever again as well as a reminder that war is something to be avoided. The Japanese Constitution prohibits war 'forever' and the 'right to belligerency' is not recognized.

It's no different with the atom bomb. Reagan himself said at the 1984 SOTU address that an atomic war is unwinnable and must never be fought. He and Gorbachev buried the hatchet. They weren't dumb.

We must never forget. Just like we must never forget the Holocaust in Europe.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

no short answers ...

... in any case, perhaps quiet pause, offering respite from the pace of the 'ordinary industry of life', could give rise to the insight of the Sakura, so fragile, but faithfully returning year on year to illustrate Life.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Correction:

The acronym IPA in my post above should be IJA, Imperial Japan Army.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I stand my words.

You don't honor victims when you were the agressor.

Among those 100,000 civilian victims, what percentage contributed to war efforts ? Surely a high percentage. Please give the answer.

War is insane, horrible, sad, etc. but why ever the USA would have prefered to send and lose troops on cround instead of carpet bombings ?

By the way, any single bombing is horror wherever.

Japan loves playing the victim card in hisyory books, so much that my Japanese wife does know hardly anything about WWII like most Japanese.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

@Johnathan Prin

Japan loves playing the victim card in hisyory books, so much that my Japanese wife does know hardly anything about WWII like most Japanese.

Can you really say they are playing the victim card when the American schools fail to teach us about this or honor the lives lost? This is my first time hearing about any of this, only Pearl Harbor and the atomic bomb droppings are what is taught. Not the other war crimes and death tolls of civilians.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Just for the record, I'd like to remind the readers here that those were "white" pilots who dropped those bombs. There were many ethnic groups within the United States at that time. We should not all be lumped together. I truly hope Japanese can recognize the difference, but doubtful at the same time.

OK then. So, you are saying the Blacks, native American, Asian American and other non-white Americans played no part in winning the war in Europe or Asia. Only white Americans.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

It should be possible to honor the commemoration without requiring a replay verdict on events of 80 years ago.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The fact that such an event as a memorial service to mourn and pray for the solace of the war dead makes the Americans react with so much brouhaha seems to me to tell something very serious and considerable.

In Japan, it is usually the case that annual memorial services are held not only for the war dead but also for the victims of natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, etc.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

KenToday 03:18 pm JST

Can you really say they are playing the victim card when the American schools fail to teach us about this or honor the lives lost? This is my first time hearing about any of this, only Pearl Harbor and the atomic bomb droppings are what is taught. Not the other war crimes and death tolls of civilians.

Japan has a special responsibility to teach why Pacific countries feel the way they do about them.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

..the British targeted, bombed and killed countless German civilians in cities like Leipzig and many more.

The Japanese were not alone in terms of war crimes. The worst by far were the Russians

The British??? Only the British? British+Americans!!!

And if you knew anything about the history of that war, you would not name Leipzig, but Drezden, where you killed twice as many people as in Tokyo! Twice as much! and even more... And what are the worst Russians??? Russians, unlike Americans, have never conducted carpet bombing anywhere! Be grateful that you're on the couch right now...Russian russians bombed another hostel with foreign mercenaries who came to Ukraine on safari to shoot a bit Russians. Prepare a new team.

Do you know why Americans bombed so many cities? To leave american mark in the history of the II WW! Because until 1945, they had done nothing to achieve victory! The American came to Europe because they knew that Russia would win without their participation. But America really wanted to participate in the partition of Europe. Americans along with the British, killed many thousands of civilians in Europe and Japan. Killed civilians for nothing. Neither of them knows how to fight with professional military men.

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The fire bombings in my opinion were war crimes that resulted from Imperial Japans hyper aggression and unnecessary violence against others

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In its initial stages, the air raids on Japan using B-29s flying at high altitudes frequently failed to hit the desired targets and were suffering from high attrition due to the new bombers' mechanical problems and interceptions by Japanese fighters. The lost planes and their crews could not easily be replaced, so to cut losses, LeMay changed tactics, using saturation bombing with napalm incendiaries. It was a cold-blooded, practical decision that may have strengthened Japan's resolve to resist, while going through the Vatican and other intermediaries in attempts to wiggle away from the Allies' unwavering demands for unconditional surrender.

In a supremely ironic footnote to this tragic story, on December 7, 1964 (note the date), the Japanese government conferred on General LeMay the First Order of Merit with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_LeMay

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