| Original caption: “Aerial View Of Tokyo After The Bombing – razed by American bombing carried out on the evening of March 9 by 334 B-29 Super Flying Fortresses.” United States Army Air Force aerial photo of Tokyo’s Nihonbashi Hamacho and Hisamatsucho Districts after Operation Meetinghouse, a massive raid on Tokyo on the night of March 9-10, 1945. 325 Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers dropped 1,510 tons (1,369 metric tons) of incendiaries in area bombing, killing a 100,000 Japanese, and laying waste to 14 square miles (36 square kilometers) of Tokyo. Beyond the Sumita River is the present-day Koto Ward. 1. Shin-Ohashi Bridge – 1st built in 1693, and destroyed and rebuilt many times. A pin truss iron bridge opened on July 19, 1912, and was replaced in 1977. Part of this bridge was preserved at the Meiji Village Museum in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture. Any iron or steel bridges became so hot that anyone touching them was seared, as if on a hot grill. people streaming toward the Sumida River bridges, and leaping into the river, clothes and even their bodies aflame. Soon, both banks of the river were clogged with bodies. Trying to flee, people passed out on the bridges dropped from exhaustion from breathing smoke. 2. Meiji Theater – Destroyed by fire many times; rebuilt in 1928 after the Great Kanto Earthquake. With seating for 1,200 people, it opened its doors as a shelter during the fire. The shutters closed, trapping people inside. Victims clawed at the walls; they were roasted or suffocated. Workers found fingernails embedded in the walls during renovations. Survivors broke down the shutter and ran during the fire. Survivors in a nearby bokugo open-air shelter heard bodies sizzling in Meiji Theater at dawn the next morning. 3. Tokyo Hisamatsu National School – A reinforced concrete building was erected in 1929 after the Great Kanto Earthquake. The school recommended that its pupils evacuate in August 1944. 600 students left to stay with relatives outside Tokyo prior to March 1945. 300 remained. Most of the school’s records were burned. 90 percent of the school’s local district was destroyed in the fire. Classes were held for 2 years in the burned-out building. 4. Hisamatsu Police Station – Tokyo residents congregated here, seeking directions out of the conflagration. They passed ideas for seeking shelter, but police warned them that most areas within reach were already aflame. In 1947, Tokyo was divided into 23 wards, at which time the areas of Kyobashi and Nihonbashi were combined to form the current Chuo Ward. This photo is dated March 10, 1945, but the roads are clear, with no smoke or debris. It is likely from a few weeks later. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1568.jpg |
| Image Size | 5.23 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 9914 x 7138 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Air Force |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | March 31, 1945 |
| Location | Nihonbashi District, Chuo Ward |
| City | Tokyo |
| State or Province | Tokyo |
| Country | Japan |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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