Great Tokyo Air Raid Memorial Monument - Taito City

Early dawn on March 10, 1945 The United States dropped an M69 incendiary (napalm) targeting a densely populated area with wooden houses in order to make it impossible for Japan to continue the war. Approximately 300 B29 bombers invading from Tokyo Bay dropped approximately 320,000 E46 focused incendiary bombs (38 M69 oil and fat incendiary bombs) in about two and a half hours. Indiscriminate bombing from low altitude at night was accompanied by strong winds from the northwest, causing a large fire. The bombing affected about 1 million people and killed more than 110,000 (Taito-ku-14784 victims, Sumida-ku-28660 victims, Koto-ku-36521 victims). More than 5,000 people in the Taito Ward side park and more than 10,000 people in the Sumida Ward side park were temporarily buried on the south side of Kotoibashi where this memorial monument is located. After the war, it was attached to the 荼 毘 and was delivered to the Tokyo Metropolitan Memorial Hall. In 1922, the Hague Lawyers Commission drafted the "Draft Rules on Air Warfare" (Draft Hague Air Warfare Rules). The following excerpts --------------- *** Article 22 [Prohibition of Explosion Against Non-Combatants] The purpose is to intimidate ordinary people, destroy or damage private property that does not have military nature, or damage non-combatants. Air explosions are prohibited *** ―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――― Few countries are at war following this rule. It justifies bombing that damages non-combatants for some reason. However, since the war itself cannot be justified, its justification has no meaning. I thought it was most important not to go into war again. (August 17, 2021)

Early dawn on March 10, 1945. B29 US Army I dared to choose a windy day and dropped a large amount of incendiary bombs amounting to 1665 tons. The fire spread to the east and south beyond the target area due to the strong north and west winds, and the entire area of ​​Honjo-ku, Fukagawa-ku, Joto-ku, Asakusa-ku, Kanda-ku, most of Nihonbashi-ku, and the eastern part of Shitaya-ku. , Southern Arakawa Ward, Southern Mukojima Ward, West of Arakawa Floodway in Edogawa Ward, and most of the downtown area was burned down. The number of affected houses was about 270,000, and the number of affected people was about 1 million. At that time, people fleeing from Asakusa to Sumida and from Sumida to Asakusa were passing through this Kotoibashi. But instantly the flames jump from person to person, and from the bridge to the river, people, people, people. Many innocent children were charred and died to be protected by their mothers. The balustrade of the bridge still has a vivid burnt mark left by human fat. This tragedy should never be repeated in posterity. And it is a mastermind of history that should not be weathered.