Mito Air Raid Site

The Bombing of Mito (水戸空襲) was one of the final large-scale incendiary raids carried out by the United States Army Air Forces against a Japanese city in World War II. On the night of August 1–2, 1945 — just days before the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — 160 B-29 Superfortress bombers launched from bases in the Mariana Islands converged on Mito, the capital of Ibaraki Prefecture and an important railway hub on the Joban Line.

The attack began at 00:31 and continued until 02:16, a sustained assault lasting approximately 105 minutes. The bombers flew at altitudes between 3,700 and 4,600 meters, releasing roughly 1,150 tons of napalm-laced incendiary bombs across the city's densely built wooden neighborhoods. Japanese air defenses were negligible: American tactical reports noted that of the 20–25 interceptor aircraft that scrambled, only one actually engaged the bombers.

The firestorm that engulfed Mito devastated most of the built-up urban area — the city's 1945 report counted about 90% of all households as affected — making it one of the more thoroughly destroyed cities in the strategic bombing campaign. More than 300 civilians were killed (the 1945 city report recorded 242 dead), thousands were injured, and vast numbers were left homeless. Among the most significant losses were irreplaceable cultural properties: the Mito Toshogu Shrine — a complex designated a National Treasure that included the main hall, stone room, worship hall, and main gate dating to the early Edo period — was completely consumed by fire. Mito Castle's iconic Gosan-no-Kaku (three-story turret), which had served as a substitute castle tower and survived the Meiji-era dismantling, was also destroyed and has never been rebuilt.

Mito was selected as a target because of its strategic importance as a service center on the Joban Railway Line and as a major labor supply source for the critical Hitachi armament factories located nearby. American planners identified the city's residential areas as housing workers essential to Japan's war production. Warning leaflets had been dropped on July 31, giving residents notice of the impending attack, though evacuation was limited. The same night, three other cities — Toyama, Hachioji, and Nagaoka — were also firebombed in what constituted the largest single night of B-29 operations, involving 836 aircraft in total.

Today, Mito has been rebuilt as a modern prefectural capital. The Mito Toshogu Shrine was reconstructed in 1962, while Mito Castle's Ote Gate and Ninomaru Sumiyagura Tower were restored in 2020–2021 based on historical records. The city holds annual peace memorial ceremonies and maintains educational programs to preserve the memory of the air raid for future generations.