Himeji Air Raids

Himeji was a garrison city, home to a divisional headquarters and the 39th Infantry Regiment, with the Kawanishi Aircraft Himeji works on its eastern side. At about 09:50 on 22 June 1945 some 60 B-29s approached from the south and bombed the Kawanishi works in waves for about an hour. The plant was wrecked and surrounding houses, roads and water mains were destroyed; about 340 people were killed and more than 350 injured.

The second raid was an area incendiary attack. From about 23:50 on 3 July until 01:29 on 4 July, around 106 B-29s dropped roughly 767 tons of incendiaries on the urban area. Fires spread outward from the station front and about 40% of the city's dwellings were burned. Around 170 people were killed and more than 160 injured, about 10,300 houses were burned and some 45,000 people were affected. Takamatsu, Tokushima and Kochi were attacked the same night.

Himeji Castle, standing just north of the burned district, escaped destruction; an incendiary that struck the main keep failed to ignite. Survivors' accounts describe the white keep rising above the ruins on the morning of 4 July as a source of encouragement. Casualty figures vary slightly between publications; those above follow the city's own reconstruction record.