Bombing of Aomori

The Bombing of Aomori (青森大空襲) was one of the most devastating air raids of the Pacific War's final months. On the night of July 28–29, 1945, 62 B-29 Superfortress bombers from the USAAF 58th Bombardment Wing, based on Tinian in the Mariana Islands, attacked the city of Aomori in northern Honshu. The bombers approached via Sendai and the Oga Peninsula, arriving over Aomori at approximately 22:10.

The raiders dropped 2,186 E-48 incendiary cluster bombs containing a total of 83,000 M74 hexagonal incendiary devices from an altitude of roughly 5,000 feet. The attack lasted approximately one hour, from 22:37 to 23:48. The resulting firestorm consumed the largely wooden city with devastating speed, destroying 88% of the urban area — one of the highest destruction ratios among all Japanese cities bombed during the war.

Casualties were severe: an estimated 1,767 civilians were killed or wounded, 18,045 homes were destroyed, and over 70,000 residents were left homeless. The death toll remains debated among historians, with estimates ranging from 731 to over 1,000 killed outright. The high casualty count was compounded by official restrictions on evacuation: following the devastating carrier-based air strikes of July 14–15 that sank most of the Seikan Ferry fleet, many citizens attempted to flee the city, but Aomori Prefecture Governor Kanai Motohiko threatened prosecution under the Air Defense Law (防空法) against anyone who abandoned their homes.

Aomori was targeted primarily because of its strategic importance as a transportation hub. The city's port served as the Honshu terminus of the Seikan Ferry connecting to Hakodate in Hokkaido, making it a vital node in Japan's north-south logistics chain. The Seikan Ferry had already been crippled by U.S. Navy carrier strikes two weeks earlier, and the firebombing of the city itself completed the severing of this critical link.

Today, the Sannai Cemetery (三内霊園) in Aomori houses a cenotaph for unidentified victims and a peace pagoda erected in 1964. The city holds annual memorial ceremonies on July 28 to honor the victims. The Aomori Air Raid Recording Association (青森空襲を記録する会) continues to collect survivor testimonies and preserve historical records of the bombing.