Air raids on Japan

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v • d • e Japan campaign

Air raids – Volcano & Ryukyu Is – Tokyo – Starvation – Tokyo Bay – Downfall – Hiroshima & Nagasaki – Kurils

There were many air raids on Japan by Allied aircraft during World War II.

The Home Islands of the Empire of Japan were defended by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. The air defenses included the use of fighter interceptors and anti-aircraft guns.

Air operations involving the Japanese Home Islands may be divided into several stages:

[edit] Operations

Doolittle Raid: attack by 16 USAAF B-25 Mitchells in April 1942
US air raids on Iwo Jima, Minami Torishima, the Kurils and other outlying islands
Operation Matterhorn: B-29 air attacks from bases in China, beginning in June 1944
Carrier air raids on Taiwan and Okinawa
Land-based bomber raids on Taiwan
Frequent B-29 air attacks from bases on Saipan and Tinian against major metropolitan areas, including the major bombing campaign against Tokyo
US and British Pacific Fleet air strikes against the Ryukyu Islands
Tactical operations by US Navy aircraft against Kyūshū, Shikoku, Honshū and Hokkaidō
US night raids against Japanese cities
Soviet air attacks against Japanese forces in Kuriles, Chosen and Kantogun during August-November 1945.
US nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 1945)