On her sixth birthday 80 years ago, Shizuko Nishio clung to her mother as US B-29 bombers started a firestorm that turned humans to ash and Tokyo into a wasteland. At least 80,000 people died, according to Japanese and US historians. Five months before the United States dropped atomic weapons on Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the nighttime raid on March 9-10, 1945 was World War II's deadliest using conventional bombs.
Before its surrender to the Allies in August 1945, Japan had conducted a brutal imperial expansion across Asia. China alone says more than 20 million of its citizens died as a result of Japanese invasion, occupation and atrocities.
Before its surrender to the Allies in August 1945, Japan had conducted a brutal imperial expansion across Asia. China alone says more than 20 million of its citizens died as a result of Japanese invasion, occupation and atrocities.
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00:00I was the only one left.
00:02Thanks to that, my family was able to evacuate.
00:20I went to an orphanage.
00:23There was an air raid warning at the orphanage.
00:28I was told that I would be back almost every day.
00:34According to my mother, there were 20 classmates.
00:43On March 10, all but me were evacuated.
00:53In this day and age, the mortality rate for 80-year-olds is high.
01:04No matter how many adults tried to open the door, it wouldn't open.
01:08But when I pushed the button several times, it opened.
01:13The reason why the door wouldn't open was probably because of the temperature difference.
01:25In front of the door, people who were told to open the door and go inside were burned black.
01:37They were piled up like a human log.
01:41They were piled up like a mountain, far above the door.
01:55It was better to sleep in front of the door.
02:00We were far away, so we didn't know much about what had happened.
02:09But we could hear the sound of a bomb exploding.
02:16When the bomb fell, it sounded like it was going to explode.
02:22I was so scared that I had no choice but to go outside.
02:27When I looked up at the sky, I thought,
02:31that was Asakusa.