Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiOn 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict. Japan surrendered to the Allies on 15 August, six days after the bombing of Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan and invasion of Japanese-occupied Manchuria. The Japanese government signed the instrument of surrender on 2 September, effectively ending the war.
Bombing of Kobe in World War IIThe bombing of Kobe in World War II on March 16 and 17, 1945, was part of the strategic bombing campaign waged by the United States against military and civilian targets and population centers during the Japan home islands campaign in the closing stages of World War II. The city would be bombed again in later months. Kobe was the sixth-largest city in Japan at the time, with a population of roughly 1 million. The houses were mostly built with wood and thus highly flammable, suitable for starting and sustaining large fires.
Sapporo(Satporopet) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city in Japan. It is the capital city of Hokkaido Prefecture and Ishikari Subprefecture. Sapporo lies in the southwest of Hokkaido, within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, which is a tributary stream of the Ishikari. It is considered the cultural, economic, and political center of Hokkaido.
Niigata (city)is a city located in the northern part of Niigata Prefecture (Kaetsu area). It is the capital and the most populous city of Niigata Prefecture, and one of the cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, located in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the most populous city on the west coast of Honshu, and the second populous city in Chūbu region after Nagoya. It faces the Sea of Japan and Sado Island. , the city had an estimated population of 779,049, and a population density of 1,072 persons per km2.
United States Strategic Bombing SurveyThe United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS) was a written report created by a board of experts assembled to produce an impartial assessment of the effects of the Anglo-American strategic bombing of Nazi Germany during the European theatre of World War II. After publishing its report, the Survey members then turned their attention to the war efforts against Imperial Japan during the Pacific War, including a separate section on the recent use of the atomic bomb, Little Boy.
Bombing of TokyoThe Bombing of Tokyo was a series of firebombing air raids by the United States Army Air Force during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. Operation Meetinghouse, which was conducted on the night of 9–10 March 1945, is the single most destructive bombing raid in human history. of central Tokyo were destroyed, leaving an estimated 100,000 civilians dead and over one million homeless. In comparison, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945 resulted in the immediate death of between 70,000 and 150,000 people.
Japan campaignThe Japan campaign was a series of battles and engagements in and around the Japanese home islands, between Allied forces and the forces of Imperial Japan during the last stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II. The Japan campaign lasted from around June 1944 to August 1945. Periodic air raids on Japan were the first attacks undertaken by Allied forces.
Nagoya([na̠ɡo̞ja̠]) naꜜɡoja) is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3 million in 2020. It is one of the three major cities of Japan (Tokyo-Osaka-Nagoya). Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most populous city of Aichi Prefecture, and is one of Japan's major ports along with those of Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, and Chiba.
Incendiary deviceIncendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), using materials such as napalm, thermite, magnesium powder, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus. Though colloquially often known as bombs, they are not explosives but in fact are designed to slow the process of chemical reactions and use ignition rather than detonation to start or maintain the reaction.
Tactical bombingTactical bombing is aerial bombing aimed at targets of immediate military value, such as combatants, military installations, or military equipment. This is in contrast to strategic bombing, or attacking enemy cities and factories to cripple future military production and enemy civilians' will to support the war effort, to debilitate the enemy's long-term capacity to wage war.