A sea of flames

I came across this small memorial today. Strange that I never noticed it because it's a street go down all the time.



There is a plaque on the corner which reads:

第2次大戦下の1945(昭和20）年3月10日米軍機B２９による東京大空襲で、10万以上の貴重な人命が失われ、三筋町も一面に火の海と成りました。辛うじて焼け残ったこの電柱には同時の惨状が刻み込まれています。私達はこの悲惨な歴史の生き証人としての電柱を保存することにより、あのような悲劇をひき起こした戦争を二度とくり返さないことを神に誓い、恒久の世界平和を宣言するものであります。

Mar.10.1988 焼け残った電柱を保存する会

(my translation)

In the aerial bombing of Tokyo by U.S. B-29 bombers on March 10, 1945, over 100,000 precious lives were lost and Misujicho (present day Taito-ku, Misuji) was transformed into a sea of flames. The woeful state of that day is etched into this partly burnt electric pole which somehow remained. We, the surviving witnesses of this tragic history, pledge with god as our witness to never again repeat war like the one that that brought this tragedy upon us. We declare world peace for all time.

March 10, 1988 The burnt electric pole preservation association




I am living on the site of the deadliest conventional aerial bombing campaign in history. I thought the Tokyo bombing was spread out over time. No, 279 B-29s dropped 1,700 tons of bombs in a matter of a day, whipping up winds of 50 m/s (over 111 mph--same as most tornadoes) and a firestorm that destroyed over 280,000 houses and buildings, killing and wounding over 120,000 civilians. It is haunting to even imagine the hell of that day.



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