Okayama Air Raid Site

The Okayama Air Raid (岡山大空襲, Okayama Dai-kūshū) of June 29, 1945 was one of the most devastating incendiary attacks on a medium-sized Japanese city during World War II. Okayama was the 31st city on a U.S. strategic target list of 180 medium-to-small Japanese cities selected for firebombing after the major metropolitan centers had already been destroyed.

On the night of June 28, 1945, 141 B-29 Superfortress bombers of the U.S. XXI Bomber Command departed from their base on Tinian in the Mariana Islands. Three aircraft turned back due to mechanical trouble, and the remaining 138 bombers approached Okayama via Nushima south of Awaji Island, the southern tip of Shōdoshima, and Inujima, entering the city along the Asahi River estuary. The attack commenced at 02:43 on June 29 and continued until approximately 04:07.

The bombers dropped roughly 890 tons — approximately 95,000 individual devices — of two types of incendiary munitions: large AN-M47-A2 oil-gel incendiary bombs designed for maximum blast and fire effect, and AN-E48 cluster munitions each dispersing 38 AN-M74 bomblets laced with highly toxic white phosphorus. No air-raid warning was issued to the civilian population, making the attack a complete surprise. USAAF target analysis had noted a population density of approximately 50,000 per square mile in the urban core, with buildings predominantly of wood and plaster construction and no adequate firebreaks — conditions considered ideal for incendiary attack.

The resulting firestorm consumed 73% of the city's built-up area. The death toll reached 1,737 civilians, with over 6,000 injured and tens of thousands left homeless. Among the most significant cultural losses was the original tenshu (main keep) of Okayama Castle, completed in 1597 by Ukita Hideie and designated as a National Treasure. The castle's distinctive black exterior had earned it the nickname "Crow Castle" (烏城, U-jō). The castle keep was completely destroyed in the firestorm, along with the temple halls of Rensho-ji and other structures dating from the medieval to early-modern periods. Only two turrets survived the raid, including the Tsukimi Yagura (Moon-Viewing Turret, built 1620), which are now designated Important Cultural Properties.

The castle's main keep was reconstructed in reinforced concrete in 1966 and underwent major renovation in 2022. Today, the rebuilt castle and the surrounding area bear witness to the scale of destruction and recovery. The raid was part of a coordinated multi-city attack on June 28-29, 1945 that also struck Moji, Nobeoka, and Sasebo. The acclaimed animation director Isao Takahata (co-founder of Studio Ghibli) survived the Okayama air raid as a nine-year-old boy; his experience fleeing through the burning city profoundly shaped his later artistic depictions of wartime devastation.