Nagoya Air Raids

Nagoya's concentration of aircraft and engine plants, above all those of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Aichi Aircraft, made it a priority target for the B-29 force in the Marianas. The first major raid, on 13 December 1944, was a high-altitude precision attack on the Mitsubishi engine works at Daiko, and further attacks on the engine and airframe plants followed through the winter.

From March 1945 the campaign shifted to night incendiary attacks on the urban area. Raids on 12 March and 19 March burned large parts of the central city, killing 519 and 826 people respectively by Japanese counts. On 14 May, in the largest raid on the city, 472 B-29s attacked northern Nagoya in daylight; the keep and Honmaru Palace of Nagoya Castle, then designated National Treasures, were destroyed by fire. A further large raid struck the southern districts on 17 May.

On 9 June 1945 a short daylight attack on the Aichi Aircraft and neighbouring factories in Atsuta caught workers returning to their posts after an alert had been lifted, killing 2,068 people. Attacks continued until late July.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' summary, Nagoya was raided 63 times, with 7,858 killed, 10,378 injured and 135,416 houses damaged or destroyed. About a quarter of the city area was burned out. The castle keep was reconstructed in ferro-concrete in 1959.