Japan marks 70th anniversary of Tokyo bombing

Published March 11, 2015
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (centre) attends a firebombing memorial service on Tuesday.—AFP
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (centre) attends a firebombing memorial service on Tuesday.—AFP

TOKYO: Japan on Tuesday marked the 70th anniversary of the firebombing of Tokyo by US forces, a night that left an estimated 100,000 people dead in one of the bloodiest episodes of World War II.

On the night of March 9-10, 1945, American planes rained incendiary bombs on Tokyo’s “Shitamachi” area — an old neighbourhood packed with wooden houses.

Tens of thousands of civilians died in the scorching flames, with many more succumbing to horrific injuries over the following days and weeks.

The shocking death toll was higher even than the number of people who died in the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki the same year, where approximately 70,000 lives were lost.

The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima killed around 140,000 people.

Despite the terror the night engendered, the firebombing has been little talked of in Japan, and Tuesday’s ceremony in the capital was the first attended by a sitting prime minister.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was among several hundred people who gathered at a mausoleum where the dead are honoured.

“We will humbly face the past and will do our best to contribute to the world’s eternal peace by keeping the lessons from the tragic war in our heart,” Abe told the ceremony.

The ashes of thousands of unnamed victims are kept at the mausoleum. The names of more than 80,000 people are inscribed on a list of victims held by the Tokyo Metropolitan government.

Abe’s attendance at the ceremony — and a rash of newspaper articles and television pieces about the raid — come as attention focuses on how Japan will mark the 70th anniversary of its defeat in WWII.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play

Opinion

Editorial

Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.
Concerning measures
Updated 03 Nov, 2024

Concerning measures

The govt must seek political input and consensus on the changes it is seeking to make and be open about its intentions.
Short-lived relief?
03 Nov, 2024

Short-lived relief?

POLICYMAKERS must be jumping with joy. At the close of the first quarter of FY25, the budget posted a consolidated...
Brisk spread
03 Nov, 2024

Brisk spread

THE surge in polio cases has reached distressing levels with a tally of 45 last reported, after two cases emerged in...