TOKYO -- The names of around 4,200 victims of the indiscriminate air raids on Tokyo by U.S. bombers near the end of World War II will be read aloud here March 20 in a commemorative event.

The event will be held at 10 a.m. in the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage in Koto Ward, and aims to emphasize how the roughly 100,000 people who perished in the attacks were not mere numbers, but had names and lives.

This is the fifth such event since first being held in 2021. The number of victims whose names are read aloud has increased from an initial 410, and now include Korean soldiers and those related to the military, U.S. prisoners of war and others.

According to the center, Tokyo's special wards area alone suffered from over 60 air raids, rising to over 100 when counting the Tama region in its western suburbs and other areas. The most devastating was the Great Tokyo Air Raid of March 10, 1945, when more than 300 U.S. B-29 bombers attacked populated districts along the Sumida River late at night, killing approximately 100,000 people and damaging about 270,000 houses. One million people were affected by the raids.

Currently, there is no memorial monument to commemorate the victims of the Great Tokyo Air Raid similar to the "Cornerstone of Peace" (Heiwa no Ishiji) in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, where the names of victims of the Battle of Okinawa are engraved. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has compiled a register of victims' names, but it is not publicly accessible.

The event's organizing committee consists of bereaved relatives and supporters of the air raid victims, the victims themselves and others. The committee stated, "We hope people take this opportunity to reflect on the victims of the war and air raids of 80 years ago, and to think about peace now and in the future."

More information is available on the committee's website (in Japanese).

(Japanese original by Toshio Kurihara, Cultural News Department)