In the final years of World War II, the United States launched massive air raids on mainland Japan. From 1944 onward, Japanese cities were relentlessly bombed, targeting not only military facilities but also densely populated residential areas.
Among these, the Tokyo Firebombing on March 10, 1945, stands out as one of the most devastating air raids in history. Around 300 B-29 bombers dropped large quantities of incendiary bombs, including napalm, over Tokyo. The city’s densely packed wooden houses turned into fuel for a catastrophic firestorm, described by survivors as a “Rain of fire” descending from the sky.
This single night of bombing claimed the lives of approximately 100,000 people, left over a million homeless, and reduced vast areas of the city to ashes. The majority of the victims were civilians — women, children, and the elderly — who had no means of escape.​​​​​​​
During World War II, air raids on mainland Japan—excluding the atomic bombings—resulted in an estimated 320,000 to 330,000 deaths and approximately 470,000 injuries. Large-scale incendiary bombings devastated 66 major cities, destroying about 40% of urban areas. It is estimated that approximately 2.5 million homes were lost, leaving more than 8.5 million people displaced.
In 1983, the United Nations adopted Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), which prohibits the use of air-delivered incendiary weapons in areas populated by civilians.​​​​​​​
However, in recent years, the Russian military invasion of Ukraine has reportedly involved the use of incendiary weapons, including white phosphorus munitions. These reports serve as a stark reminder that the devastation Japan experienced during World War II air raids—particularly the immense suffering of civilians—is not merely a thing of the past.
