Editing Bombing of Tokyo (section)

==B-29 raids==
[[File:Bomb damage in Tokyo.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of Tokyo following the war]]
[[File:Firebombing tokyo leaflet.jpg|thumb|Leaflet dropped over Tokyo, warning civilians to leave the city]]
The key development that enabled the USAAF to bomb Japan at scale was the [[B-29 Superfortress]] [[strategic bomber]], which had an operational range of {{convert|3250|nmi|mi km}} and was capable of attacking at high altitude above {{convert|30000|ft|m}}, where Japanese air defenses struggled to reach them. Almost 90% of the bombs dropped on the Japanese home islands were delivered by the B-29. The capture of islands sufficiently close to Japan (particularly [[Saipan]] and [[Tinian]], seized in June 1944) enabled B-29s based at airfields there to bomb the home islands with increasing regularity.{{sfn|Beevor|2012|p=698}}

Prior to the capture of the Marianas, long-range bombing raids were carried out by the [[Twentieth Air Force]] operating out of mainland China in [[Operation Matterhorn]] under [[XX Bomber Command]]. However, while these raids were able to strike parts of southern Japan, they were out of range of Tokyo. It was also logistically difficult for the Allies to maintain a large bomber force in China via circuitous supply routes from India. The strategic situation improved when flight operations from the [[Northern Mariana Islands]] commenced in November 1944,<ref>{{cite video
 | year =1944
 | title =Video: B-29s Rule Jap Skies,1944/12/18 (1944)
 | url =https://archive.org/details/1944-12-18_B-29s_Rule_Jap_Skies
 | publisher =[[Universal Newsreel]]
 | access-date =20 February 2012
}}</ref> but high-altitude bombing attacks using general-purpose bombs were observed to be ineffective by USAAF leaders due to high winds—later discovered to be the [[jet stream]]—which carried the bombs off target.{{sfn|Morgan|Powers|2001|p=279}} Between May and September 1943, bombing trials were conducted on the [[Japanese Village (Dugway Proving Ground)|Japanese Village]] set-piece target, located at the [[Dugway Proving Grounds]] in Utah.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Plung |first1=Dylan |title=The Japanese Village at Dugway Proving Ground: An Unexamined Context to the Firebombing of Japan |journal=Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |date=April 15, 2018 |volume=16 |issue=8 |url=https://apjjf.org/2018/08/Plung.html}}</ref> These trials demonstrated the effectiveness of [[Incendiary device|incendiary bombs]] against wood-and-paper buildings common in Japan, and eventually resulted in [[Curtis LeMay]] ordering his bomber wings to change tactics and utilize these munitions against Japanese targets.{{sfn|Hopkins|2009|p=322}}

The first American raid utilizing incendiary munitions was carried out against [[Bombing of Kobe|Kobe]] on 4 February 1945. Tokyo was hit by incendiaries on 25 February 1945 when 174 B-29s flew a high altitude raid during daylight hours, destroying around {{convert|643|acre|ha|-1|abbr=on}} (2.6&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) of the snow-covered city, using 453.7 tons of both incendiary and fragmentation bombs.{{sfn|Bradley|1999|p=33}} Subsequently, LeMay ordered further B-29 raids on the capital, but at a much lower altitude of {{convert|5000|to|9000|ft|abbr=on}} and at night, judging that Japan's air defenses were weakest in this altitude range, and that Japanese fighter defenses were ineffective at night. LeMay ordered all defensive guns but the tail gun removed from the B-29s, allowing the aircraft to be lighter, use less fuel and carry more ordnance.{{sfn|Miller|Commager|2001|pp=447-449}}

When selecting targets for incendiary raids, USAAF planners had consulted maps produced by the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS) which ranked Tokyo's five wards by their potential susceptibility to fire. OSS analysts had considered factors such as the average density and structural composition of buildings, and had even utilized risk assessments produced by Japanese insurance companies prior to the war. While the military objective of incendiary raids was to target small, geographically dispersed "light industry" workshops supplying larger Japanese factories, the decision of which specific neighborhoods to bomb was made based on how well USAAF strategists believed they would burn.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Toll |first=Ian W. |title=Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 |date=2020 |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-08065-0 |edition=1st. |location=New York (N. Y.) |pages=543–544}}</ref>

===Operation Meetinghouse===
{{main|Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945)}}
[[File:Tokyo 1945-3-10-1.jpg|thumb|A birds-eye view over the Ningyōchō district of [[Nihonbashi]] following Operation Meetinghouse]]
On the night of 9–10 March 1945,<ref>{{cite web |last=Crane |first=Conrad C. |url=https://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5229.htm |title=The War: Firebombing (Germany & Japan) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602225435/http://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5229.htm |archive-date=2 June 2017 |publisher=[[PBS]] |access-date=24 August 2014}}</ref> 334 B-29s targeted the Shitamachi neighborhood of Tokyo in a low-altitude bombing raid. Ultimately, 279 bombers dropped 1,665 tons of bombs on the city. The ordnance consisted mostly of {{convert|500|lb|kg|adj=on}} E-46 [[Cluster munition|cluster bombs]], which released 38 [[napalm]]-carrying [[M69 incendiary|M69 incendiary bomblets]] at an altitude of {{convert|2000|-|2500|ft|m|abbr=on}}. The M69s punched through thin roofing material or landed on the ground; in either case they ignited 3–5 seconds later and regurgitated a jet of flaming napalm. A smaller number of [[M47 bomb|M47 incendiary bombs]] were also dropped; the M47 was a {{convert|100|lb|kg|adj=on}} jelled-gasoline and white phosphorus bomb, designed to ignite upon impact. Within the first two hours of the raid, rapidly spreading fires had overwhelmed the Japanese authorities' firefighting capabilities.{{sfn|Bradley|1999|pp=34–35}} The first B-29s to arrive dropped bombs in a large X pattern centered in Tokyo's densely populated working class district near the docks in both [[Koto, Tokyo|Koto]] and [[Chūō, Tokyo|Chūō]] [[Special wards of Tokyo|city wards]] on the water; follow-on aircraft simply aimed near this flaming X. Individual fires caused by the bombs swiftly coalesced into a general [[conflagration]], which would have been classified as a [[firestorm]] if not for prevailing natural winds gusting at {{convert|17|to|28|mph|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rodden |first1=Robert M. |last2=John |first2=Floyd I. |last3=Laurino |first3=Richard |issue=May 1965 |url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=AD0616638 |title=Exploratory Analysis of Firestorms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008110454/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=AD0616638&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf |archive-date=8 October 2012 |journal=Stanford Research Institute |pages=39, 40, 53–54 |publisher=Office of Civil Defense, Department of the Army, Washington D.C.}}</ref> Approximately {{convert|15.8|sqmi|ha|-1}} of the city were destroyed and some 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/17724/page5/ |first=Freeman |last=Dyson. |title=Part I: A Failure of Intelligence |work=Technology Review |date=1 November 2006 |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] |access-date=9 March 2008 |archive-date=2 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302153101/http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/17724/page5/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://japanfocus.org/products/details/1581 
 |first=David |last=McNeill |title=The night hell fell from the sky' |work=Japan Focus |date=10 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205060418/http://japanfocus.org/products/details/1581 |archive-date=5 December 2008 }}</ref> A total of 282 out of 339 B-29s launched for "Meetinghouse" reached Tokyo, 27 of which were lost due to being shot down by Japanese air defenses, mechanical failure, or being caught in massive updrafts caused by the fires below.{{sfn|Morgan|Powers|2001|p=314}}

The Operation Meetinghouse firebombing of Tokyo on the night of 9 March 1945 was the single deadliest air raid of World War II,<ref name="deadliest">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2011/03/0309incendiary-bombs-kill-100000-tokyo/ |title=9 March 1945: Burning the Heart Out of the Enemy |date=9 March 2011 |magazine=Wired |publisher=Condé Nast Digital |access-date=8 August 2011}}</ref> causing more destruction than the bombings of [[Bombing of Dresden in World War II|Dresden]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ellsworth.af.mil/News/story/id/123192125/ |title=This month in history: The firebombing of Dresden |author=Technical Sergeant Steven Wilson |date=25 February 2010 |work=[[Ellsworth Air Force Base]] |publisher=[[United States Air Force]] |access-date=8 August 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929013643/http://www.ellsworth.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123192125 |archive-date=29 September 2011  }}</ref> and [[Bombing of Hamburg in World War II|Hamburg]], and even [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] as single events.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/bombings-worse-nagasaki-hiroshima/ |title=Bombings Worse than Nagasaki and Hiroshima |first=Laurence M. |last=Vance |date=14 August 2009 |work=The Future of Freedom Foundation |access-date=8 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0310-08.htm |title=1945 Tokyo Firebombing Left Legacy of Terror, Pain |first=Joseph |last=Coleman |date=10 March 2005 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=CommonDreams.org |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-date=3 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103023353/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0310-08.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Results===
[[File:Tokyo-kushu-hikaku.jpg|thumb|A bird's-eye view of Tokyo before and after the air raids]]
High-altitude daylight bombing had previously caused minimal damage to Tokyo's heavy industry, but the destruction caused by low-altitude night-time firebombing wiped out much of the dispersed [[light industry]] that provided a crucial source for small machine parts for Japanese war manufacturing. Firebombing also killed or made homeless many factory workers critical to the war effort. According to American intelligence in early 1945, over 50% of Tokyo's industry was spread out among residential and commercial neighborhoods; the destruction of these neighborhoods in firebombing raids cut the whole city's output in half.<ref name="Summary Report Pacific War"/> Damage was especially severe in the eastern areas of Tokyo. The districts bombed were home to 1.2 million people in total. The Tokyo police force recorded 267,171 buildings destroyed, which left more than one million people homeless.{{sfn|Sherry|1987|pp=276-277}}

Emperor [[Hirohito]]'s tour of the destroyed areas of Tokyo in March 1945 ended his relative lack of involvement in the Japanese wartime decision-making process and contributed to his eventual decision to capitulate to the Allied powers, culminating in [[Surrender of Japan|Japan's surrender]] six months later.{{sfn|Bradley|1999|p=38}}

===Casualty estimates===
[[File:Tokyo kushu 1945-3.jpg|thumb|Charred remains of Japanese civilians after Operation Meetinghouse]]
The [[Strategic Bombing Survey (Pacific War)|US Strategic Bombing Survey]] later estimated that nearly 88,000 people died, 41,000 were injured, and over a million residents lost their homes in the March 9-10 raid alone. The Tokyo Fire Department estimated a higher death toll of 97,000 killed and 125,000 wounded. The [[Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department]] established a figure of 83,793 dead, 40,918 wounded, and 286,358 buildings and homes destroyed.<ref name="Selden">{{cite journal |last1=Selden |first1=Mark |date=2 May 2007 |title=A Forgotten Holocaust: US Bombing Strategy, the Destruction of Japanese Cities & the American Way of War from World War II to Iraq |url=https://apjjf.org/Mark-Selden/2414/article |journal=Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |volume=5 |issue=5 |page=2414 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230226221105/https://apjjf.org/-Mark-Selden/2414/article.html |archive-date=2023-02-26 |access-date=}}</ref> Historian [[Richard Rhodes]] placed the death toll at over 100,000, injuries at a million, and homeless residents at a million.{{sfn|Rhodes|1984|p=599}} These casualty and damage figures could be low, according to [[Mark Selden]]:

[[File:Tokyo kushu 1945-2.jpg|thumb|The charred body of a woman who was carrying a child on her back]]
{{blockquote|The figure of roughly 100,000 deaths, provided by Japanese and American authorities, both of whom may have had reasons of their own for minimizing the death toll, seems to be arguably low in light of population density, wind conditions, and survivors' accounts. With an average of {{convert|103,000|/mi2|/hectare|disp=preunit|inhabitants&nbsp;|inhabitants}} and peak levels as high as {{convert|135,000|/mi2|/hectare|disp=preunit|inhabitants&nbsp;|inhabitants}}, the highest density of any industrial city in the world, and with firefighting measures ludicrously inadequate to the task, {{convert|15.8|sqmi|km2}} of Tokyo were destroyed on a night when fierce winds whipped the flames and walls of fire blocked tens of thousands fleeing for their lives. An estimated 1.5 million people lived in the burned out areas.<ref name=Selden />}}

In his 1968 book, reprinted in 1990, historian [[Gabriel Kolko]] cited a figure of 125,000 deaths.{{sfn|Kolko|1990|pp=539-540}} Elise K. Tipton, a professor of Japan Studies, arrived at a rough range of 75,000 to 200,000 deaths.{{sfn|Tipton|2002|p=141}} [[Donald L. Miller]], citing [[Knox Burger]], stated that there were "at least 100,000" Japanese deaths and "about one million" injured.{{sfn|Miller|Commager|2001|p=456}}

The wider strategic and area bombing campaign against Japan killed more than 300,000 people and injured an additional 400,000, mostly civilians.{{sfn|Crane|1993|p=140}}{{sfn|Conway-Lanz|2006|p=1}}