Frozen in time: Hospital room preserved since 1945 Tokyo firebombing

Another price that need to be paid because Japanese involvement in WW2, should've think that before starting Pearl Harbor.

the B-29 bombers shifted to indiscriminate attacks on densely populated urban areas.

Most of the Japan's factories were in or right beside residential areas at the time. Many of its government and military facilities, too. There were very, very few zoned residential-only areas at the time, even to this day. The US Army Air Force dropped millions of pamphlets on Japanese cities explaining this to residents, but the Japanese police punished those who read them.

The US was actually an early innovators of "precision bombing," over Germany, a couple of years earlier. However, they had to give it up. Their bombers were shot down mercilessly as the raids had to be in daytime due to the technological limits of their bombsights of the time, so they switched to indiscriminate nighttime raids, which turned out to be very effective in destroying the enemy's industrial capacity.

Looks Like a photo out of a Gaza Hospital after IDF Bombing.

Wars Are HELL.

@WoodyLee

That even worst, the IDF one will left with nothing, just flat to the ground.

That Tokyo Hospital still using WW2 technology, while IDF using the latest genocide technology.

The U.S. was an innovator of indiscriminate bombings against civilians as well as precision bombings. It’s a poor excuse that factories were situated so close to residential areas in Tokyo at the time. A war crime is a war crime. There’s no justification for killing babies in their cribs.

Firebombings in Japan and Germany were inhumane causing a high rate of civilian casualties.

In London, bomb factories were also hidden in residential areas.

MeiyouwentiToday 07:59 am JST

The U.S. was an innovator of indiscriminate bombings against civilians as well as precision bombings. It’s a poor excuse that factories were situated so close to residential areas in Tokyo at the time. A war crime is a war crime. There’s no justification for killing babies in their cribs.

Tell it to the 10 million dead in China.

It wasn’t just Pearl Harbor. The U.S. supported China and wanted Japan out. They cut off oil which led to Japan’s unwise decision to stir the hornet’s nest.

Japanese TV programs and host Ikegami Akira’s narrative is that Japan was a victim of US scrap metal sanctions and the oil embargo of 1941 and had no choice but to defend herself.

Then all the celebrity ladies go“ hei……….” and make sympathetic faces for poor Japan.

One lady even got teary eyed as Japanese TV love to show that. Poor Japan kawaisou.

Looks Like a photo out of a Gaza Hospital after IDF Bombing.

Looks like a phto out of an Israeli village home after Hamas massacre/rape.

Wars are terrible. All nations deserve to live. ALL. This includes the Arabic Palestinian nation and the Israeli Jewish nation. This includes the Japanese nation and the Korean nation.

Eerie picture...... I,ll leave the history for others to debate.

@sakurasuki

The people of Japan had no say in the bombing of Pearl Harbour. It was the decision of their government. The people just paid the price.

In future wars, governments should be the primary target of all first strikes, as they are the ones who start wars.

Bombing civilians indiscriminately should always be considered a war crime, in Tokyo, London, Dresden, Ukraine or Gaza. The 'winners' should not escape punishment for their crimes.

I would be interested in seeing the display and thought about visiting the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage in neighboring Koto Ward until I saw how inconveniently it is located. Like 10 minutes walk from the nearest bus stop. I'm just not physically up to it these days. Sigh.

https://tokyo-sensai.net/old/english_page/visitors.html

With the level of utter terror, death and destruction visited upon Tokyo and it's citizens in the fire bombing raid of March 1945, I've always wondered why the Japanese govt/military never capitulated soon after.

That so many ordinary people suffered so horrifically in the heart of the capital, must have signaled the end has come.

But sadly no - many hundreds of thousands more common folk had to die horrific deaths under the military's defiance for peace.

My wife's family were lucky - twice - to have escaped regional bombings long after The Tokyo Raid.

Such insanity.

Nothing learned - except more devastating ways to kill.

sakurasuki

Another price that need to be paid because Japanese involvement in WW2, should've think that before starting Pearl Harbor.

As mentioned to you in another similar post yesterday you need to do your homework before you make any comments on this matter. The USA orchestrated the PH attack where they knew right down to the time and day it was going to take place.

Secondly even IF the above was not correct please tell me where abouts in any part of WW2 Japan targeted any US civilian areas, there was none. Yet good old USA slaughters hundreds of thousands of civilians with no reason. Remember, PH was attacked as it was a military base during war time. The USA simply did not care who they murdered.

WW2 Japan targeted any US civilian areas, there was none.

None, unless you include U.S. overseas possessions such as Guam and the Philippines. Also, Japan released hundreds of balloon bombs over the Pacific aimed at the US mainland, although they did scant damage.

Alongfortheride..."re Japan never targeted civilian area ".

Little known war fact.

Japanese midget submarines targeted Sydney Harbour sinking a couple of passenger ferries.

The subs were scuttled off "Lion Island " close to Palm Beach , Sydney's most northern area and only found on the seabed about 10 or more years ago.

Strangely, PM at the time, Tony Abbott, used this historical morsel to develop a theme about Japanese submariner bravery at the time Japan was vying to build Australian subs.

@meiyouwentl

the U.S. was an innovator of indiscriminate bombings against civilians 

No it wasn't. If you want to name an "innovator of indiscriminate bombings against civilians" it would have to be imperial Japan. It was the only country in WW2 to routinely use biological weapons, including aerial bombings, including against the civilians of Shanghai and many other Chinese cities, purely for terror reasons. Naturally, Japan today refuses to acknowledge this, instead pleading to the world that was a victim of large scale aerial bomings during the war in a cynical bid to claim some sort of moral high ground.

The US, on the other hand, dropped millions of pamphlets urging civilians to get out of the targeted industrial areas in advance. It actually tried to do precision bombing (for which imperial japan had no such interest) and paid a gruesome price, but quickly realized it wouldn't work, given technological limitations of the day.

All good points made. When did firebombing cities become considered within the rules of war, and thus not a war crime worthy of punishment?

John S. McNamara, author of The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, talks about the proportions of cities destroyed in Japan by the US before the dropping of the nuclear bomb, comparing the destroyed Japanese cities to similarly-sized cities in the US: 

Tokyo, roughly the size of New York City, was 51% destroyed; Toyama, the size of Chattanooga, was 99% destroyed; Nagoya, the size of Los Angeles, was 40% destroyed; Osaka, the size of Chicago, was 35% destroyed; Kobe, the size of Baltimore, was 55% destroyed; etc.

Cities have a high population of civilians. Had the United States lost the war, they would have been tried for war crimes.

San-Ikukai Hospital, the four-story building in eastern Tokyo's Sumida Ward

Why, my son came to world in exactly this hospital two years ago. I would have never thought.

You never know what tales the walls around us, the earth beneath our feel can tell. We are too busy to even think about what could have happened here and there.

Please don't dismantle, preserve untouched.

A horror moment in time, for future generations to understand not only the sacrifices of war, but the failure of present day stubborn politicians to fully appreciate the lessons yet to be learned.

GuruMick

Alongfortheride..."re Japan never targeted civilian area ".

Little known war fact.

Japanese midget submarines targeted Sydney Harbour sinking a couple of passenger ferries.

Not correct, it was ONE "converted" ferry that had 21 soldiers on board. So again as I mentioned only targeted military.

quercetum

All good points made. When did firebombing cities become considered within the rules of war, and thus not a war crime worthy of punishment?

Because the USA can do whatever it wants with no questions asked. If Japan did the same thing to all the major cities in the USA would be a very different story.

We must never forget the horrors of war in the hope of not starting another one.

Hopefully it will serve as a reminder to Japan to try to prevent wars, not be willingly dragged into them

John S. McNamara, author of The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara,

In the Errol Morris film, Robert McNamara himself says to camera that precision bombing was a complete failure and hastened the decision to indiscriminately firebomb cities, because this could be done successfully. He hints that it was a war crime that they got away with due to victor's justice.

The situation in Tokyo at the time was heavily influenced by an "air defense law" that prohibited evacuations and required firefighters to stay behind and attempt to extinguish the fires, preventing many people from escaping.

.

Stay and face the carnage rather than being allowed to leave?

Unconscionable.

Japan has been at peace without a single involvement in a war for 80 years. That does not excuse what it did during WW2.

It's good to preserve the remains of war. It's good to visually display that war means destruction, pain, suffering, bad things. Japan has been experiencing prosperity after war and more countries should follow the example of Japan that in it's constitution declares that renounce to war as a mean of solving conflicts

Some of the pipes and plumbing look new. They wouldn't have been using white plastic plumbing in WWII, if so it would have melted in the fire.

Doesn't look like a hospital room to me. More like a roof space for a water tank, accessed from below by a ladder.

AlongfortherideToday 10:02 am JST

Secondly even IF the above was not correct please tell me where abouts in any part of WW2 Japan targeted any US civilian areas, there was none. Yet good old USA slaughters hundreds of thousands of civilians with no reason. Remember, PH was attacked as it was a military base during war time. The USA simply did not care who they murdered.

Just because Japan couldn't reach US citizens doesn't mean they didn't commit horrific atrocities in the areas they could reach.

quercetumToday 10:25 am JST

Cities have a high population of civilians. Had the United States lost the war, they would have been tried for war crimes.

Only because the millions dead in China would have been swept under the rug. Also clearly Japan waging aggressive war in the first place.

War is hell and the inocent civilians tend to pay the highest price despite their opposition to war, due to their leaders decisions. With that said its important to know history and facts. Fact is Japanese spen years bombing Chinese citizens indiscriminately prior to the end of the war. That's not just China, look up the Philippines and others to understand the scope of the number of deaths of civilians all over the pacific perpetrated by the Japanese Army. This is not a defense of war but if we ignore history then it was all for nothing.

The bombing of Chongqing (simplified Chinese: 重庆大轰炸; traditional Chinese: 重慶大轟炸, Japanese: 重慶爆撃), from 18 February 1938 to 19 December 1944, was a series of massive terror bombing operations authorized by the Empire of Japan's Imperial General Headquarters and conducted by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service.

quercetumToday 10:25 am JST

All good points made. When did firebombing cities become considered within the rules of war, and thus not a war crime worthy of punishment?

The correct question is when did it become outside the rules of war and the answer is after WW2 with the 4th geneva convention.

Tell_Me-Bout’it:

On the contrary, whenever I see a huge oak or pine tree, here in basically still a rural area, I think of what the life must have been, two centuries ago . Who could imagine

Their bombers were shot down mercilessly as the raids had to be in daytime due to the technological limits of their bombsights of the time, so they switched to indiscriminate nighttime raids, which turned out to be very effective in destroying the enemy's industrial capacity.

Jeez, how the Americans won the war, again. The British did the night bombing as they were much better at it.

The USA orchestrated the PH attack where they knew right down to the time and day it was going to take place.

Correct. The plan to bomb PH was discovered by British spies in Tokyo and the US was told about it 6 days before it happened but did not act on the information so they had a reason to join the war.

A haunting photo from 80 years ago. But it's not just history.

One would think that in this time we would all have learned of the horrors of war.

A Russian airstrike hit a maternity and children's hospital in Mariupol on March 9, 2022, causing deaths and injuries, including to pregnant women. Several hospitals and medical facilities in Kharkiv, Kyiv and other cities were also damaged or destroyed in airstrikes and shelling. The World Health Organization (WHO) has verified hundreds of Russian attacks on healthcare facilities in Ukraine.

In October 2023, the WHO reported that four hospitals in Gaza, including The Al-Ahli Arab Hospital were no longer functioning after being targeted by Israeli airstrikes. In November 2023, Israeli forces conducted operations around Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that Israeli snipers opened fire on children at the hospital, resulting in casualties. By January 2024, none of Gaza's hospitals remained fully operational due to ongoing military actions. The World Health Organization recorded a total of 660 Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities during this period.

ianToday  01:01 pm JST

Hopefully it will serve as a reminder to Japan to try to prevent wars, not be willingly dragged into them

Japan is one of only 2 countries on Earth to have a constitution that makes it illegal, literally or effectively, for it to start any wars. And no person or party in Japan has made any effort to change that portion of Article 9.

However, Japan can only prevent itself from starting any wars. It can not do anything about other nations that have no such limitations and may choose to start a war with Japan.

wallace

Japan has been at peace without a single involvement in a war for 80 years. That does not excuse what it did during WW2.

Also does not excuse what the USA did also

TaiwanIsNotChina

AlongfortherideToday 10:02 am JST

Secondly even IF the above was not correct please tell me where abouts in any part of WW2 Japan targeted any US civilian areas, there was none. Yet good old USA slaughters hundreds of thousands of civilians with no reason. Remember, PH was attacked as it was a military base during war time. The USA simply did not care who they murdered.

Just because Japan couldn't reach US citizens doesn't mean they didn't commit horrific atrocities in the areas they could reach.

You mean like America did right?

What a shame, did you LEARN anything from this experience?

Japan has been at peace without a single involvement in a war for 80 years. That does not excuse what it did during WW2.

I agree there are no excuses. But I think if most of us look at what our countries have done in the last 80 years or so, we probably all owe apologies.

AlongfortherideFeb. 18 10:19 pm JST

wallace

Japan has been at peace without a single involvement in a war for 80 years. That does not excuse what it did during WW2.

Also does not excuse what the USA did also

The greatest thing that the US did was that it kept the home islands from speaking russian today.

“The situation in Tokyo at the time was heavily influenced by an "air defense law" that prohibited evacuations and required firefighters to stay behind and attempt to extinguish the fires, preventing many people from escaping.”

So, the population was effectively being used as human shields.

The USA orchestrated the PH attack where they knew right down to the time and day it was going to take place.

No they didn’t. This is a conspiracy theory with 0 historical evidence to support it.

Secondly even IF the above was not correct please tell me where abouts in any part of WW2 Japan targeted any US civilian areas

Sure. Operation Cherry Blossoms at night was the Japanese plan to drop plague bombs over San Francisco. On May 5th a Japanese balloon bomb killed civilians in Oregon.

Jeez, how the Americans won the war, again. The British did the night bombing as they were much better at it.

Wrong. Less than 5% of night bombings in Japan were done by the British

Correct. The plan to bomb PH was discovered by British spies in Tokyo and the US was told about it 6 days before it happened but did not act on the information so they had a reason to join the war.

Another lie. There is 0 historical evidence to support this conspiracy theory

Also does not excuse what the USA did also

Yes it does.

It's a war crime, even Curtis LeMay knew that.

Run any litmus test with the same scenario, and you'll chalk it up as a war crime. In a contemporary context, let's say Russia firebombs Kiev killing 100,000 people. War crime. Ukraine firebombs Moscow, killing 100,000. War Crime. North Korea firebombs Seoul, killing 100,000. War crime. North Korea Firebombs Los Angeles killing 100,000. War Crime. Israel firebombs Gaza, killing...oh, wait.

The old 'It's not a war crime because they were asking for it' isn't a legitimate argument, it just makes squirmy people feel better about the reality of what their country did.

It's a war crime, even Curtis LeMay knew that.

Run any litmus test with the same scenario, and you'll chalk it up as a war crime.

No it wasn’t. The 4th Geneva convention hadn’t been ratified yet and there were no international laws prohibiting it.

History has proven that if you win a war, it is not a war crime, but if you lose, you are made to bear even false charges.

It was Japanese soldiers, not Americans, who stopped Russia from advancing south.