＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
During the Pacific War, Japan suffered many air raids by US B-29 strategic bombers and Grumman fighter planes. The “incendiary bombs” dropped by the B-29s on densely populated areas of Tokyo and Osaka were napalm bombs (oil-based incendiary bombs), which quickly burned down many houses in Japan, where most of the houses are made of wood, causing great damage and resulting in the deaths and injuries of residents. The most catastrophic damage was the “dropping of atomic bombs” on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This “indiscriminate bombing (carpet bombing)” was different from “precision bombing” that targeted munitions factories and the like, and was clearly intended to cause damage to the general public, so I believe it can be considered a violation of international law.
However, Germany carried out the “London Blitz” many times over the course of eight months from September 1940 to May 1941. As a result, it is said that more than 43,000 people were killed and more than a million people lost their homes.
The damage caused by air raids in Japan was enormous: over 116,000 people were killed and over 770,000 houses were burned in Tokyo (the largest was the Great Tokyo Air Raid on March 10, 1945), over 13,000 people were killed and over 168,000 houses were burned in Nagoya (the largest was the Great Nagoya Air Raid on March 12, 1945), over 15,000 people were killed and over 364,000 houses were burned in Osaka (the largest was the Great Osaka Air Raid on March 13, 1945).
The damage caused by the atomic bombs dropped on August 6 and 9, 1945, was 140,000 people killed in Hiroshima and 70,000 people killed in Nagasaki.
However, there were no major air raids in Kyoto, with only 215 people killed and an unknown number of houses burned.
I’m going to digress a little, but I’d like to talk about the “air raids on the American mainland” by the Japanese military. These were air raids using Navy carrier-based aircraft and Army balloon bombs.
The first time, two incendiary bombs were dropped on forests on the border between Oregon and California, causing the forest to burn. The second time, two incendiary bombs were dropped on forests in Oregon, causing the forest to burn. That’s all. Both took place in September 1942.
The purpose of these air raids was to damage forests, not to cause human casualties, so there were no casualties among either civilians or military personnel.
Balloon bombs were balloons sent on the jet stream to the US mainland, and about 10% of the 9,300 or so bombs reached the US mainland, but no major damage was done.
Now, let’s get back to the main topic. There are various theories as to why the Imperial Palace and Kyoto were hardly ever attacked by air raids.
1. With advice from cultural anthropologists
菊と刀 （光文社古典新訳文庫） [ ルース・フルトン・ベネディクト ]
This is a story I heard in a cultural anthropology class when I was a university student. Ruth Benedict, author of “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture,” advised that since the Emperor has been an important figure, a spiritual pillar for the Japanese people since ancient times, attacking him would be strategically undesirable.
Kyoto is also home to the Imperial Palace, the ancient residence of the Emperor, and temples related to the Imperial family, so like the Imperial Palace, it should not be targeted for air raids.
There is also a story that then-President Truman was told by the famous Japan scholar Reischauer (former U.S. ambassador to Japan) about the importance of the cultural assets of the ancient capital of Kyoto, and so he decided to hardly carry out any air raids on the city.
Furthermore, in an Asahi Shimbun article dated November 11, 1945, under the headline “Behind the scenes of Kyoto and Nara remaining unscathed: Japanese art connoisseurs behind U.S. troops protecting ‘treasures of mankind’ across borders,” the article prominently reported that “Mr. Warner, a scholar of Oriental art, has advised the U.S. government to refrain from air raids on ancient capitals such as Kyoto and Nara in order to protect their historical culture,” and this seems to have become common knowledge.
It appears that the United States had been carefully preparing methods for postwar settlement and occupation policy since before and after the outbreak of the war, and Ruth Benedict’s research was commissioned by the U.S. government’s Office of War Information.
Regarding air raids, important facilities such as the Imperial Palace, residences of the Imperial family, military headquarters, important government offices such as the Ministry of Finance, the National Diet Building, headquarters of zaibatsu conglomerates, newspaper companies, and Yokosuka naval base were excluded from the targets due to the need to utilize these facilities after the occupation.
Kyoto was not excluded from the air raids because of the need to protect cultural assets, but because it was considered a postwar Japanese occupation policy that it would be unwise to burn down Kyoto, which has deep ties to the Emperor.
This was due to the fear that Japan might become communist, especially in relation to the Soviet Union. There was no need to wait for President Trump to say “America First.”
2. Kyoto was preserved as a target city for the third atomic bomb.
According to this theory, even if the atomic bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, if Japan had not unconditionally surrendered, Kyoto might have also suffered atomic bomb damage.
3. To bring antiques from Kyoto and Nara back to the United States after the occupation
This theory, which even ends with the punchline that “they were compiling a list of ancient art pieces to take from Japan in lieu of compensation,” doesn’t seem to have much credibility.
However, photographer Taikichi Irie, who became famous for his photos of old temples and Buddhist statues in Nara and Kyoto, wrote in his book that his motivation for taking photos of Buddhist statues was to “take photos of art objects before they are taken to America.” It seems to be true that such rumors circulated in Kyoto and Nara.
As an aside, when I was in junior high and high school, “modern history” was hardly covered in history classes, probably because it was not very relevant to “entrance exams.” I think we either glossed over it briefly or were told to “read it if you have time.”
However, in order to consider the current world situation and make correct judgments, I think it is necessary for us as Japanese people to study modern history thoroughly. This will also help us acquire the wisdom to not be misled by lies such as the “comfort women” issue, which is a fabricated article by the Asahi Shimbun.
・「従軍慰安婦問題」
What is happening in today’s history classes for junior high and high school students?
<Additional Note>
I have written articles dated July 4, 2019 titled “The mysterious Northern and Southern Courts period and the ancestors of the Imperial family” （「不可解な南北朝時代と天皇家の祖先」）and April 8, 2021 titled “Was Omuro Toranosuke really a descendant of the Southern Court? If that is a lie, then who are the ancestors of the current Imperial family?”（「大室寅之祐は本当に南朝の末裔だったのか？嘘だとすれば今の天皇家の祖先は？」） so please be sure to read these as well.