Comparison to Other Cities
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Fig. 15.1 Four Cities Attacked in August 1, 1945
Four cities got airraided by indiscriminative manner on the same day, August 1st, 1945. The Air raid of the day was the maximum scale in the history until that time. 820 B-29 bombers dropped 6,632 tons of bombs and mines onto four cities, oil industry in Kawasaki, and some straits.
Table 15.1 Damages of Four Cities Bombed on August 1st, 1945
| Name of City | Population | Death Toll | Burnt Houses |
Deaths per 1000 capita |
Deaths per 1000 Burnt Houses |
% of City Damaged (US evaluation) |
| NAGAOKA |
74,508 (Jul.1945) |
1,457 | 11,986 | 19.5 | 121.5 | 64.9 |
| TOYAMA |
168,739 (Dec.1944) |
2,149 | 22,149 | 12.7 | 93.9 | 98.6 |
| MITO |
66,983 (Oct.1944) |
242 | 10,104 | 3.6 | 24.0 | 68.9 |
| HACHIOHJI |
77,478 (Feb.1944) |
398 | 13,338 | 5.1 | 29.4 | 65.0 |
Numbers of deaths in Nagaoka and Toyama are much more than Mito and Hachiohji. People in Mito and Hachiohji had probably known what an incendiary bombing was like because both cities are near to Tokyo raided in March.
Air raid on Tokyo in the night of March 9th was an extraordinary one that killed 83,600 people. People on that side of Japan might have known that the lessons of a fire bombing; It is dangerous to stay in a shelter, rather, it is best to get out of the city for surviving.
People in Toyama once got the air raid warning in the night of August 1st. B-29 bombers did flew over Toyama but did not drop bombs because they were heading to Nagaoka. So Toyama people got relieved, went home, and fell asleep. But after that, the second wave of B-29s bombed the city in early morning of August 2nd. That tactically well-planned attack cheated people and killed more.
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