Chiba Air Raid Site

The Chiba Air Raids (千葉空襲, Chiba Kūshū) refer to the devastating American strategic bombing attacks on Chiba City, the capital of Chiba Prefecture in the Kanto region, during the final months of World War II. The city suffered two major raids: June 10, 1945, and the far more destructive July 7, 1945 attack, known as the "Tanabata Air Raid" (七夕空襲) because it fell on the night of the traditional Star Festival.

The first raid on June 10, 1945 was a daylight precision attack by 27 B-29 Superfortress bombers targeting the Hitachi Aircraft factory in the Soga district of southern Chiba. While primarily aimed at industrial facilities, the bombing also struck residential areas in the Shinjuku and Fujimi neighborhoods, destroying the Chiba Prefectural Girls' High School and leaving 391 people dead or wounded across 26 hectares of devastation.

The catastrophic second raid came on the night of July 6-7, 1945. A force of 129 B-29 bombers departed from bases in the Mariana Islands and arrived over Chiba at 01:39 hours, commencing a massive firebombing attack that lasted until 03:05. The bombers dropped approximately 889 tons of E-46 incendiary cluster bombs and T4E4 fragmentation cluster bombs from altitudes of 3,000 to 3,500 meters. The resulting firestorm engulfed the central city, destroying 205 hectares of the urban area. Official figures record 1,204 people killed or wounded, and tens of thousands were left homeless. Key targets destroyed included Chiba Station, the Railway First Regiment barracks, the Balloon Unit facilities, and the Army Anti-Aircraft School.

Combined, the two raids destroyed approximately 70% (231 hectares) of central Chiba, with total casualties of 1,595 killed and wounded, 8,904 houses destroyed, and 41,212 people left homeless. Carrier aircraft also attacked targets in the prefecture until August 15, 1945 — the very day of Japan's surrender — when British Royal Navy aircraft from HMS Indefatigable flew against a chemical plant in the Chōsei district, outside Chiba City.

Today, the rebuilt Chiba City center bears little physical trace of the wartime destruction, though several memorials preserve the memory. The War Disaster Reconstruction Memorial (戦災復興記念碑, 1980) stands in Chiba Central Park, while the Memorial to War Dead and Air Raid Victims (戦没者戦災死没者之慰霊碑) at Sakuragi Cemetery in Wakaba Ward, established in 1973, serves as the primary site of annual remembrance. The city holds a memorial service for the war dead each October, and peace-education efforts continue to teach younger generations about the devastating night when the Star Festival sky was filled with fire instead of stars.