Kochi City Peace Memorial Monument

The Kochi City Peace Memorial Monument (高知市平和祈念の碑) stands at the northwest entrance of the Kochi City General Sports Complex (高知市総合運動場), known as Ryoma Stadium, in Ohara-cho, Kochi City. Designed by Shinohara Takahiko (篠原孝彦), with title calligraphy by Nakahira Shōkaku (中平松鶴), the monument was dedicated on July 4, 2004 — the 59th anniversary of the Kochi Great Air Raid — to enshrine the Kochi Air Raid Victims Registry and to serve as a permanent site for honoring the dead and passing on the message of peace to future generations.

The Kochi Great Air Raid (高知大空襲) occurred in the early morning hours of July 4, 1945, when 125 B-29 Superfortress bombers of the 73rd Bombardment Wing, XXI Bomber Command, attacked Kochi City. The bombers had departed the previous afternoon (July 3, 4:23 PM Japan time) as part of a multi-city operation involving 501 B-29s from bases on Guam, Saipan, and Tinian in the Mariana Islands, targeting Himeji, Takamatsu, Tokushima, and Kochi simultaneously.

Between 1:52 AM and 2:52 AM on July 4, the 125 B-29s dropped 1,060.8 short tons of incendiary munitions over Kochi City — comprising 748.0 tons of M69 napalm cluster bombs and 312.8 tons of M76 large napalm incendiary bombs. The bombers used Room Cape (室戸岬) as the Initial Point (IP), approaching on a radar-guided course from the southeast.

The results were devastating: 401 civilians were killed, 95 seriously wounded, 194 slightly wounded, and 22 reported missing — a total of 712 casualties. The firestorm destroyed 11,804 buildings completely and damaged 108 more, consuming 4,186,446 square meters (approximately 40% of the built-up urban area) and displacing 40,737 residents. Much of Kochi's historic Edo-period streetscape was lost, including structures associated with the birthplace of the renowned bakumatsu figure Sakamoto Ryoma.

Notably, Kochi Castle (高知城), one of only twelve original-construction castles remaining in Japan, survived the air raid largely intact — its main tower (天守), palace (本丸御殿), and other structures enduring the firestorm that consumed the surrounding city. The castle's survival amid near-total urban destruction makes it a poignant counterpoint to the devastation memorialized at this monument.

The July 4 raid was not an isolated attack. Kochi City was raided repeatedly between January and July 1945: the first bombs fell on the night of January 19 (from a B-29), followed by a raid on March 7, six raids in June (on the 1st, 7th, 15th, 19th, 22nd and 26th), and the catastrophic July 4 firebombing. A final raid struck on July 24, 1945.

The monument is registered as an official war-damage memorial facility by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (総務省). Since 2005, the Kochi City Peace Memorial Ceremony (高知市平和祈念式) has been held annually on July 4 at the monument site, with participants observing a moment of silence and laying flowers for the victims. Kochi City declared itself a "Peace City" (平和都市宣言) in 1962 and designated August 6 as "Kochi City Peace Day" in 1989.