Formation of B-29 prepare for Tokyo Raid 5 December 1944 Saipan

A Comprehensive History of the Bombing of Tokyo

The bombing of Tokyo during World War II was a long and devastating campaign that ultimately crippled the Japanese capital as a center of production and administration. While the Doolittle Raid of April 1942 marked the first attack on Tokyo, the city would experience a 31-month respite before becoming the target of a relentless air campaign launched by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the US Navy.

Initial B-29 Raids: Precision Bombing

The USAAF began its strategic bombing campaign against Japan in November 1944 with the deployment of B-29 Superfortresses to the Mariana Islands. Tokyo, as Japan’s capital and a major industrial center, was a primary target from the start. The initial strategy focused on high-altitude precision bombing, aiming to cripple key industries and war production facilities.

The first B-29 raid on Tokyo took place on November 24, 1944, targeting the Nakajima Musashino Aircraft Engine Factory.
Due to bad weather and fierce Japanese resistance, these early missions had limited success. Only a fraction of the bombs hit their intended targets, and losses were relatively high.
Between November 1944 and March 1945, the USAAF conducted eleven high-altitude precision bombing raids on Tokyo, but the results were disappointing.
The Japanese response to these initial raids was vigorous, with fighters, including the Ki-44 “Tojo,” attempting to intercept the B-29s.
The attacks were often uncoordinated, and the Japanese struggled to effectively engage the bombers at high altitudes.
One notable incident was the ramming attack on a B-29 by Corporal Yoshiso Mita of the 47th Hikō Sentai on November 24, 1944, which resulted in the destruction of both aircraft.

Shifting to Incendiary Attacks

In early 1945, General Curtis LeMay, the new commander of the XXI Bomber Command, recognized the limitations of high-altitude precision bombing against Japanese cities. He decided to switch to low-altitude nighttime incendiary attacks, exploiting Tokyo’s vulnerability to fire due to its densely packed wooden buildings.

The first large-scale incendiary raid took place on the night of March 9-10, 1945, involving 334 B-29s. Over 15 square miles of central Tokyo were destroyed in the resulting firestorm, which killed an estimated 80,000 people.
This marked a turning point in the bombing campaign, demonstrating the devastating effectiveness of incendiary attacks.
The USAAF followed up this success with a series of devastating fire raids on Tokyo and other major Japanese cities.
These raids involved hundreds of B-29s dropping thousands of tons of incendiary bombs, creating massive firestorms that consumed entire urban areas.
On May 24, 1945, 520 B-29s attacked Tokyo, dropping 3,700 tons of firebombs.
Two days later, on May 26, 564 B-29s returned, creating a “sea of flames” and spreading fires with hurricane-force winds.

Tokyo’s Defenses

The effectiveness of the bombing campaign was partly due to the limitations of Tokyo’s defenses. While the city had an extensive civil defense system in place, it was designed to handle conventional bombing raids and proved inadequate against the scale and intensity of the B-29 attacks.

While the Japanese military responded to the B-29 threat with increased fighter activity, anti-aircraft fire, and even ramming tactics, their efforts were hampered by technological limitations, fuel shortages, and the effectiveness of American electronic countermeasures.
Tokyo’s civil defense system was based on the experience of the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake, which had devastated the city. This system focused on fire prevention and emergency response but was overwhelmed by the scale of the B-29 fire raids.
The Japanese were unable to prevent the B-29s from reaching their targets and struggled to contain the resulting firestorms, which spread rapidly through the city’s densely populated areas.

US Navy Attacks

In addition to the USAAF bombing campaign, the US Navy also conducted several carrier air raids on Tokyo and the surrounding areas.

The most significant of these was Task Force 58’s attack on February 16-17, 1945.
During this raid, US Navy aircraft targeted the Musashino aircraft engine factory, which had been the target of several unsuccessful B-29 raids.
The Navy also attacked airfields, shipping, and other military installations in the Tokyo area.

Final Raids

While the majority of the Tokyo area was in ruins by June 1945, the USAAF continued to conduct bombing missions against specific targets in the city and its environs.

On May 29, 1945, the USAAF launched a daylight incendiary raid on Yokohama, a major port and industrial center south of Tokyo. This raid, involving 517 B-29s escorted by P-51 Mustang fighters, destroyed a significant portion of the city.
In the final months of the war, the USAAF also used Tokyo as a practice target for atomic bomb missions. On July 29, 1945, the B-29 Bockscar, which would later drop the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, dropped a conventional “pumpkin bomb” on the Musashino factory as a rehearsal for the atomic attacks.
On August 8, 1945, two days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the USAAF conducted a final raid on the Musashino factory, dropping 289 2,000lb bombs on the already ruined facility.

Aftermath

By the end of the war, the bombing of Tokyo had resulted in widespread destruction and a significant loss of life. The city’s industrial capacity had been severely crippled, and its infrastructure was in ruins.