Was Tokyo bombed in WW2?

Question: Was Tokyo bombed in WW2?

Answer: Yes. Very much so.

Of the 100-plus bombing raids targeting Tokyo, the attack of March 9-10, 1945 left one million people homeless and killed 100,000. In total, American raids would destroy roughly half of central Tokyo. Here’s a time-lapse map of the raids showing the rapid spread of fire damage during the March 9-10 raid, centering on Koto-ku:

(For more about this map, see: Tokyo’s archaeology of World War II 東京の第二次世界大戦の考古学 WW2 sites)

And here’s a photo of Tokyo after the air raids. The building at lower-right is the Old Ryogoku Kokugikan 旧両国国技館, current site of the Ryougoku Sumo Hall (map).

Other Japanese cities were even harder-hit. Almost everyone is aware of the damage to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, decimated by atomic bombs, but the fate of Japan’s other cities often gets overlooked. Here’s a list of the sixty-seven Japanese cities bombed during World War 2 (Source: Digital Text International).

67 Japanese Cities Firebombed in World War II:

Name of Japanese city firebombed	Percentage of the city destroyed	Equivalent in size to the following American city
Yokohama	58	Cleveland
Tokyo	51	New York
Toyama	99	Chattanooga
Nagoya	40	Los Angeles
Osaka	35.1	Chicago
Nishinomiya	11.9	Cambridge
Siumonoseki	37.6	San Diego
Kure	41.9	Toledo
Kobe	55.7	Baltimore
Omuta	35.8	Miami
Wakayama	50	Salt Lake City
Kawasaki	36.2	Portland
Okayama	68.9	Long Beach
Yawata	21.2	San Antonio
Kagoshima	63.4	Richmond
Amagasaki	18.9	Jacksonville
Sasebo	41.4	Nashville
Moh	23.3	Spokane
Miyakonoio	26.5	Greensboro
Nobeoka	25.2	Augusta
Miyazaki	26.1	Davenport
Hbe	20.7	Utica
Saga	44.2	Waterloo
Imabari	63.9	Stockton
Matsuyama	64	Duluth
Fukui	86	Evansville
Tokushima	85.2	Ft. Wayne
Sakai	48.2	Forth Worth
Hachioji	65	Galveston
Kumamoto	31.2	Grand Rapids
Isezaki	56.7	Sioux Falls
Takamatsu	67.5	Knoxville
Akashi	50.2	Lexington
Fukuyama	80.9	Macon
Aomori	30	Montgomery
Okazaki	32.2	Lincoln
Oita	28.2	Saint Joseph
Hiratsuka	48.4	Battle Creek
Tokuyama	48.3	Butte
Yokkichi	33.6	Charlotte
Uhyamada	41.3	Columbus
Ogaki	39.5	Corpus Christi
Gifu	63.6	Des Moines
Shizuoka	66.1	Oklahoma City
Himeji	49.4	Peoria
Fukuoka	24.1	Rochester
Kochi	55.2	Sacramento
Shimizu	42	San Jose
Omura	33.1	Sante Fe
Chiba	41	Savannah
Ichinomiya	56.3	Springfield
Nara	69.3	Boston
Tsu	69.3	Topeka
Kuwana	75	Tucson
Toyohashi	61.9	Tulsa
Numazu	42.3	Waco
Chosi	44.2	Wheeling
Kofu	78.6	South Bend
Utsunomiya	43.7	Sioux City
Mito	68.9	Pontiac
Sendai	21.9	Omaha
Tsuruga	65.1	Middleton
Nagaoka	64.9	Madison
Hitachi	72	Little Rock
Kumagaya	55.1	Kenosha
Hamamatsu	60.3	Hartford
Maebashi	64.2	Wheeling