Air raids on Japan

Air raids on Japan
Part of the Japan campaign during the Pacific War
B-29 Superfortress bombers dropping incendiary bombs on Yokohama in May 1945[1]
Date 18 April 1942 – 15 August 1945 Location Japanese home islands Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United States  United Kingdom  Republic of China	Japan
Units involved
Fifth Air Force Seventh Air Force Eleventh Air Force Twentieth Air Force 3rd Fleet 5th Fleet British Pacific Fleet Republic of China Air Force	Northern District Eastern District Central District Western District General Defense Command Air General Army
Strength
27,261 B-29 sorties, exclusive of mining operations[2]	2,833 heavy AA guns 5,916 automatic cannons 168,900 personnel[3]
Casualties and losses
5th Air Force: 31 aircraft 7th Air Force: 12 aircraft VII Fighter Command: 157 aircraft 91 killed 20th Air Force: 414 aircraft over 2,600 killed[4] ~545 Allied airmen captured	241,000–900,000 killed 213,000–1,300,000 wounded 8,500,000 rendered homeless[5] Very heavy damage to industry Extensive damage to urban areas 4,200 aircraft[6]

During the Pacific War, Allied forces conducted air raids on Japan from 1942 to 1945, causing extensive destruction to the country's cities and killing between 241,000 and 900,000 people. During the first years of the Pacific War these attacks were limited to the Doolittle Raid in April 1942 and small-scale raids on Japanese military positions in the Kuril Islands from mid-1943. Strategic bombing raids began in June 1944 and continued with increasing intensity until the end of the war in August 1945. Allied naval and land-based tactical air units also attacked Japan during 1945.

The United States Army Air Forces campaign against Japan began in earnest in mid-1944 and intensified during the final months of the war. While plans for attacks on the Japanese home islands had been prepared prior to the Pacific War, these could not begin until the long-range Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber was ready for combat and in production at scale. From June 1944 until January 1945, B-29s stationed in India and staged through bases in China made a series of nine raids on targets in western Japan, but this effort proved ineffective. The strategic bombing campaign was greatly expanded from November 1944, when airfields in the Mariana Islands became available as a result of the Mariana Islands Campaign. Initial attempts to target industrial facilities using high-altitude daylight "precision" bombing were ineffective in significantly degrading Japanese war economy, due to a mix of poor weather conditions, Japanese air defenses, and the jet stream impeding accuracy.

Additionally, much of the Japanese military industry's early-stage manufacturing process was carried out in small, geographically-disparate workshops and private homes, reducing the effectiveness of bombing larger factories. Partially in an attempt to address this issue, beginning February 1945 the USAAF transitioned to a strategy of low-altitude nighttime firebombing against urban areas. This approach caused severe damage to Japan's industrial output, while simultaneously resulting in widespread urban destruction and high civilian casualties. Aircraft flying from Allied aircraft carriers and the Ryukyu Islands also frequently struck targets on the home islands during 1945, in preparation for the planned invasion of Japan scheduled for October 1945. On 6 and 8 August 1945, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were mostly destroyed after being struck by American atomic bombs.

Japan's military and civil defenses were ultimately unable to stop or meaningfully hinder Allied air attacks. The number of fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft guns assigned to defensive duties in the home islands was inadequate, and most of these aircraft and guns had difficulty reaching the high altitudes at which B-29s often operated in daytime raids, or operating effectively against them at night. Acute fuel shortages, inadequate pilot training, and a lack of coordination between units also constrained the effectiveness of the fighter force. By June 1945, the Japanese military had decided to cease contesting most Allied air raids, in an effort to stockpile aircraft for defense during the impending invasion of the home islands. Despite the vulnerability of Japanese cities to incendiary bombs, local and municipal firefighting services lacked adequate training and equipment, and few air raid shelters were constructed for civilians. Facing insufficient anti-aircraft defenses, American B-29s were able to inflict severe damage on urban areas while suffering few losses.

The Allied bombing campaign was one of the main factors that influenced the Japanese government's decision to surrender in mid-August 1945. However, the morality of large-scale attacks on Japanese cities has been subject to widespread debate, and the American decision to use atomic weapons has been particularly controversial. The most commonly cited estimate of Japanese casualties from the raids is 333,000 killed and 473,000 wounded. Other estimates of total fatalities range from 241,000 to 900,000. In addition to causing extensive loss of civilian life, the raids also contributed to a large decline in Japanese industrial production.