11 The earthquake resulted not only in large scale physical destruction and collapse, but in a tsunami in many coastal areas, and huge conflagrations in both of the main cities. There are estimated to have been well over 100,000 deaths, and total casualties exceeded 140,000.

Recurrence of the 7.9 magnitude Great Kanto Earthquake, which destroyed Tokyo in 1923 and killed 140,000, could result in 40,000 to 60,000 deaths, 80,000 to 100,000 serious injuries, and cause economic losses totaling between $800 billion to $1.2 trillion.

Over 570,000 homes were destroyed and 105,385 people were killed in the Great Kantō Earthquake.

“The cities of Tokyo and Yokohama, and surrounding towns and villages, have been largely if not completely destroyed by earthquake, fire and flood, with a resultant appalling loss of life and destitution and distress, requiring measures of urgent relief.” The American Red Cross, of which Coolidge was the titular head.

An extreme example of a fire whirl is the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake in Japan, which ignited a large city-sized firestorm and produced a gigantic fire whirl that killed 38,000 people in fifteen minutes in the Hifukusho-Ato region of Tokyo.

Operation Meetinghouse, which was conducted on the night of 9–10 March 1945, is the single most destructive bombing raid in human history. Of central Tokyo 16 square miles (41 km2; 10,000 acres) were destroyed, leaving an estimated 100,000 civilians dead and over one million homeless.

In the closing months of the war, the United States had turned to incendiary bombing tactics against Japan, also known as “area bombing,” in an attempt to break Japanese morale and force a surrender. The firebombing of Tokyo was the first major bombing operation of this sort against Japan.

The U.S. likely did not target Tokyo for the atomic bomb strikes as it was the seat of the Emperor and the location of much of the high ranking military officers. These are precisely the people you do not want to kill if you want to negotiate a surrender, as they are the people you would be negotiating with.

Bombing of Tokyo, (March 9–10, 1945), firebombing raid (codenamed “Operation Meetinghouse”) by the United States on the capital of Japan during the final stages of World War II, often cited as one of the most destructive acts of war in history, more destructive than the bombing of Dresden, Hiroshima, or Nagasaki.

In popular usage, any act in which an incendiary device is used to initiate a fire is often described as a “firebombing”. This article is concerned with aerial incendiary bombing as a military tactic; for non-military (almost always criminal) acts, see arson.

Hiroshima had been completely destroyed by the A-bomb, but gradually electricity, transportation, and other functions were restored. The people collected any unburned materials they could find and began rebuilding their homes and their lives.

Japan is currently one of the most pro-American nations in the world, with 67% of Japanese viewing the United States favorably, according to a 2018 Pew survey; and 75% saying they trust the United States as opposed to 7% for China.

The United States and Russia maintain diplomatic and trade relations. The relationship was generally warm under the Russian President Boris Yeltsin (1991–99) until the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the spring of 1999, and has since deteriorated significantly.

In nearly every battle the Japanese fought against us they fought under terrible conditions and showed extreme bravery in the face of certain death. They were the most ferocious soldiers of their time. Because of that, I think they considered Americans somewhat cowardly because we would rather surrender than die.

JAPANESE troops practised cannibalism on enemy soldiers and civilians in the last war, sometimes cutting flesh from living captives, according to documents discovered by a Japanese academic in Australia. He has also found some evidence of cannibalism in the Philippines.