Tuesday marks the 75th anniversary of a series of devastating air raids by U.S. bombers that killed about 100,000 people in Tokyo.
With the number of witnesses to the Great Tokyo Air Raid declining as the years go by, efforts are being made to ensure the experiences of the survivors are being preserved for posterity.
In the early hours of March 10, 1945, 1,665 tons of incendiary bombs were dropped on the present-day areas of Sumida, Koto and Taito wards. The indiscriminate operation by B-29 bombers lasted about 2-1/2 hours, killing 100,000 people and causing the destruction of about 270,000 houses, many of which were razed after strong winds fueled catastrophic fires following the raids.
"Bubblelike beads of fire fell from the sky, burning the bodies of the people they landed on," volunteer guide Tetsuzo Shiraishi, 82, told visitors at the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage in Koto Ward in late February, while fellow guide Mie Otsuji, 47, sat nearby eagerly taking notes.
Hailing from Tokushima Prefecture, Otsuji came to Tokyo for university and moved to Koto Ward about 15 years ago. She visited the center for the first time last spring and was shocked to learn that the area around her home had been hit during the air raids and many people had been killed.
Since October last year, she has talked to visitors about the materials at the center and continues to listen to Shiraishi's experiences to learn more about the incident. She has also traveled by bicycle along the evacuation route that Shiraishi took during the air raid.
Otsuji and most of the other volunteers are too young to have direct knowledge of the war so she decided to form a group that will collect information about the experiences of the survivors and hold events at the center.
"We don't have much time left to hear stories directly from the people who experienced the raid," Otsuji said. "I want to learn as much as possible from them and pass the information on."
"I was thinking that there was a need for people to share our experiences. I want to support the endeavors [of the young volunteers]," Shiraishi said.
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