Sakai Air Raid

Sakai, closely tied to Osaka's war industries and housing many of its factory workers, was attacked five times in 1945: in March, twice in June, on 10 July and in August. The July attack, the fourth, is known as the Great Sakai Air Raid and is also counted as part of the sixth Osaka air raid.

At about 01:30 on 10 July B-29s came in from Osaka Bay and set the Ohama, Ryujin and Shukuin districts ablaze; over the next hour and a half successive small groups dropped oil and phosphorus incendiaries until the old city was a sea of fire. Japanese Wikipedia identifies the force as 116 B-29s of the 73rd Bombardment Wing from Isley Field, Saipan, bombing from 01:33 to 03:06 with about 13,000 bombs (778.9 tons); the MIC page speaks of about 100 aircraft. People who jumped into the Doi River died there, and several hundred were burned to death together near Ryujin station.

The city welfare section's survey, cited by the MIC and by Sakai City, records 1,860 dead, 223 seriously and 749 slightly injured, 18,009 houses totally and 437 partly burned, and 70,000 people affected. Japanese Wikipedia cites a lower set of figures (1,370 dead, 1,472 injured, 14,797 houses), so the toll differs by source. Sakai City preserves survivor testimony and holds commemorations each year around 10 July.