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173-593: The temple was destroyed during a 10 March 1945 firebombing air raid on Tokyo during World War II. The main hall was rebuilt in the 1950s. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect of Buddhism , the temple became independent after the war. Leading to it is Nakamise-dōri street, containing many shops with traditional goods. Adjacent to the east of Sensō-ji is the Asakusa Shrine of the Shinto religion. The temple

346-472: A 36-hour period to ready as many aircraft as possible. This effort proved successful, and 83 percent of the B-29s were available for action compared to the average serviceability rate of 60 percent. Other ground crew loaded the aircraft with bombs and fuel. A total of 346 B-29s were readied. The 73rd Bombardment Wing contributed 169 B-29s and the 313th Bombardment Wing 121; both units were based on Saipan . At

519-506: A challenge for the gardeners. Due to the absolute importance of the arrangement of natural rocks and trees, finding the right material becomes highly selective. The serenity of a Japanese landscape and the simple but deliberate structures of the Japanese gardens are a unique quality, with the two most important principles of garden design being "scaled reduction and symbolization". Japanese gardens always feature water, either physically with

692-618: A composition whose function is to incite mediation." Several of the famous Zen gardens of Kyoto were the work of one man, Musō Soseki (1275–1351). He was a monk, a ninth-generation descendant of the Emperor Uda and a formidable court politician, writer and organizer, who armed and financed ships to open trade with China, and founded an organization called the Five Mountains, made up of the most powerful Zen monasteries in Kyoto. He

865-653: A copy of the Lotus Sutra that is designated a Japanese National Treasure and the Issai-kyō , a complete collection of Buddhist scriptures that has been designated an Important Cultural Property . Unlike the Kaminarimon, which houses four different statues, the Hōzōmon houses two guardian statues that are located on either side of the gate's south face. These 5.45 metres (17.9 ft) tall statues represent Niō ,

1038-421: A few feet and roads were rapidly cut by the fires. Crowds of civilians often panicked as they rushed towards the perceived safety of canals, with those who fell being crushed to death. The majority of those killed in the raid died while trying to evacuate. In many cases entire families were killed. One of the most deadly incidents occurred when the full bomb load of a B-29 landed in a crowd of civilians crossing

1211-480: A garden, though the tsubo-niwa style of tiny gardens in passages and other spaces, as well as bonsai (in Japan always grown outside) and houseplants mitigates this, and domestic garden tourism is very important. The Japanese tradition has long been to keep a well-designed garden as near as possible to its original condition, and many famous gardens appear to have changed little over several centuries, apart from

1384-444: A million people left the city in the following weeks, with more than 90 percent being accommodated in nearby prefectures . Due to the extent of the damage and the exodus from Tokyo, no attempt was made to restore services to large sections of the city. Estimates of the number of people killed in the bombing of Tokyo on 10 March differ. After the raid, 79,466 bodies were recovered and recorded. Many other bodies were not recovered, and

1557-715: A much more radical approach to the traditions. One example is Awaji Yumebutai , a garden on the island of Awaji , in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan, designed by Tadao Ando . It was built as part of a resort and conference center on a steep slope, where land had been stripped away to make an island for an airport. Japanese gardens are distinctive in their symbolism of nature, with traditional Japanese gardens being very different in style from occidental gardens: "Western gardens are typically optimised for visual appeal while Japanese gardens are modelled with spiritual and philosophical ideas in mind." Japanese gardens are conceived as

1730-653: A new garden architecture style appeared, created by the followers of Pure Land Buddhism . These were called "Paradise Gardens", built to represent the legendary Paradise of the West, where the Amida Buddha ruled. These were built by noblemen who wanted to assert their power and independence from the Imperial household, which was growing weaker. The best surviving example of a Paradise Garden is Byōdō-in in Uji , near Kyoto. It

1903-451: A pond or stream, or symbolically, represented by white sand in a dry rock garden. In Buddhist symbolism, water and stone are thought of as yin and yang , two opposites that complement and complete each other. A traditional garden will usually have an irregular-shaped pond or, in larger gardens, two or more ponds connected by a channel or stream, and a cascade, a miniature version of Japan's famous mountain waterfalls. In traditional gardens,

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2076-523: A promenade garden, meant to be seen from the winding garden paths, with elements of the Zen garden, such as artificial mountains, meant to be contemplated from a distance. The most famous garden of this kind, built in 1592, is situated near the Tokushima castle on the island of Shikoku . Its notable features include a bridge 10.5 metres (34 ft) long made of two natural stones. Another notable garden of

2249-514: A propaganda campaign focused on restoring confidence in the country's air and civil defense measures. These measures were generally unsuccessful. Few steps were taken to improve Tokyo's defenses after the raid. The majority of the 10th Air Division's senior officers were sacked or reassigned as punishment for the unit's failure on 10 March. Only 20 aircraft were sent to Tokyo to reinforce the 10th Air Division, and these were transferred elsewhere two weeks later when no further attacks were made against

2422-482: A prototype for future Japanese architecture. They opened up onto the garden, so that the garden seemed entirely part of the building; whether the visitor was inside or outside of the building, they would ideally always feel they were in the center of nature. The garden buildings were arranged so that were always seen from a diagonal, rather than straight on. This arrangement had the poetic name ganko , which meant literally "a formation of wild geese in flight". Most of

2595-551: A quarter of all buildings in Tokyo at the time. This destruction rendered 1,008,005 survivors homeless. Most buildings in the Asakusa, Fukagawa, Honjo, Jōtō and Shitaya wards were destroyed, and seven other districts of the city experienced the loss of around half their buildings. Parts of another 14 wards suffered damage. Overall, 15.8 square miles (41 km ) of Tokyo was burned out. The number of people killed and area destroyed

2768-453: A raid was in progress was issued at 12:15 am, just after the B-29s began dropping bombs on Tokyo. The 10th Air Division sortied all of its available night interceptors, and the 1st Anti-Aircraft Division's searchlight and anti-aircraft units went into action. As expected by LeMay, the defense of Tokyo was not effective. Many American units encountered considerable anti-aircraft fire, but it was generally aimed at altitudes either above or below

2941-652: A range of mechanical problems which affected the B-29s. These failures led to the head of the Command being relieved in January 1945. Major General Curtis LeMay , the commander of XX Bomber Command, replaced General Haywood S. Hansell . Arnold and the Twentieth Air Force's headquarters regarded the campaign against Japan up to that time as unsuccessful, and LeMay understood that he would also be relieved if he failed to deliver results. He believed that changing

3114-554: A representation of a natural setting, tying in to Japanese connections between the land and Shinto spiritualism, where spirits are commonly found in nature; as such, Japanese gardens tend to incorporate natural materials, with the aim of creating a space that captures the beauties of nature in a realistic manner. Traditional Japanese gardens can be categorized into three types: tsukiyama (hill gardens), karesansui (dry gardens) and chaniwa gardens (tea gardens). The small space given to create these gardens usually poses

3287-425: A role in Japanese gardens than in the West, though seasonally flowering shrubs and trees are important, all the more dramatic because of the contrast with the usual predominant green. Evergreen plants are "the bones of the garden" in Japan. Though a natural-seeming appearance is the aim, Japanese gardeners often shape their plants, including trees, with great rigour. Japanese literature on gardening goes back almost

3460-493: A specific area, with the bombers attacking within a short timeframe, and the strong winds present over Tokyo. Few concerns were raised in the United States during the war about the morality of the 10 March attack on Tokyo or the firebombing of other Japanese cities. These tactics were supported by the majority of decision-makers and American civilians. Historian Michael Howard has observed that these attitudes reflected

3633-445: A stimulant to keep awake during long periods of meditation. The first great tea master, Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591), defined in the most minute detail the appearance and rules of the tea house and tea garden, following the principle of wabi ( 侘び , "sober refinement and calm") . Following Sen no Rikyū's rules, the teahouse was supposed to suggest the cottage of a hermit-monk. It was a small and very plain wooden structure, often with

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3806-459: A suggested donation of 100 yen, visitors may consult the oracle and divine answers to their questions. Querents shake labelled sticks from enclosed metal containers and read the corresponding answers they retrieve from one of 100 possible drawers. Within the temple is a quiet contemplative garden kept in the distinctive Japanese style . The Kaminarimon ( 雷門 , "Thunder Gate" ) is the outer of two large entrance gates that ultimately lead to

3979-413: A thatched roof, with just enough room inside for two tatami mats. The only decoration allowed inside a scroll with an inscription and a branch of a tree. It did not have a view of the garden. The garden was also small, and constantly watered to be damp and green. It usually had a cherry tree or elm to bring color in the spring, but otherwise did not have bright flowers or exotic plants that would distract

4152-404: A thousand years, and several different styles of garden have developed, some with religious or philosophical implications. A characteristic of Japanese gardens is that they are designed to be seen from specific points. Some of the most significant different traditional styles of Japanese garden are the chisen-shoyū-teien ("lake-spring-boat excursion garden"), which was imported from China during

4325-594: A weight of 400 kilograms (880 lb), the lantern displays the name of the town Kobunachō ( 小舟町 ) . The current iteration of the lantern dates back to 2003 when ¥2 billion was donated by the people of Kobunachō. Its donation commemorated the 10th-year-anniversary of the start of the Edo period . On either side of the chōchin hangs five 2.75 metres (9.0 ft) tall copper tōrō weighing approximately 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) each. All three lanterns are completely removed during festivals such as Sanja Matsuri . On

4498-551: Is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon ( Avalokiteśvara ). According to legend, a statue of the Kannon was found in the Sumida River in 628 AD by two fishermen, brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari. The chief of their village, Hajino Nakamoto, recognized the sanctity of the statue and enshrined it by remodeling his own house into a small temple in Asakusa so that the villagers could worship Kannon. The first temple

4671-449: Is not possible to know exactly how many died. Most of the bodies which were recovered were buried in mass graves without being identified. Many bodies of people who had died while attempting to shelter in rivers were swept into the sea and never recovered. Attempts to collect bodies ceased 25 days after the raid. The raid also caused widespread destruction. Police records show that 267,171 buildings were destroyed, which represented

4844-492: Is the inner of two large entrance gates that lead to the Sensō-ji. It is a two-story gate ( nijūmon ), and its second story houses many of the Sensō-ji's treasures. The first story houses two statues, three lanterns and two large sandals. It stands 22.7 metres (74 ft) tall, 21 metres (69 ft) wide, and 8 metres (26 ft) deep. The Hōzōmon was first built in 942 AD by Taira no Kinmasa. Destroyed by fire in 1631, it

5017-566: The Man'yōshū , the "Collection of Countless Leaves", the oldest known collection of Japanese poetry. The Nara period is named after its capital city Nara . The first authentically Japanese gardens were built in this city at the end of the 8th century. Shorelines and stone settings were naturalistic, different from the heavier, earlier continental mode of constructing pond edges. Two such gardens have been found at excavations, both of which were used for poetry-writing festivities. One of these gardens,

5190-639: The daimyō , around which new cities and gardens appeared. The characteristic garden of the period featured one or more ponds or lakes next to the main residence, or shoin , not far from the castle. These gardens were meant to be seen from above, from the castle or residence. The daimyō had developed the skills of cutting and lifting large rocks to build their castles, and they had armies of soldiers to move them. The artificial lakes were surrounded by beaches of small stones and decorated with arrangements of boulders, with natural stone bridges and stepping stones . The gardens of this period combined elements of

5363-587: The Asuka period ( c.  6th to 7th century ). Japanese gardens first appeared on the island of Honshu , the large central island of Japan. Their aesthetic was influenced by the distinct characteristics of the Honshu landscape: rugged volcanic peaks, narrow valleys, mountain streams with waterfalls and cascades, lakes, and beaches of small stones. They were also influenced by the rich variety of flowers and different species of trees, particularly evergreen trees, on

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5536-635: The Eight Immortals , who lived in perfect harmony with nature. Each Immortal flew from his mountain home on the back of a crane . The islands themselves were located on the back of an enormous sea turtle . In Japan, the five islands of the Chinese legend became one island, called Horai-zen, or Mount Horai . Replicas of this legendary mountain, the symbol of a perfect world, are a common feature of Japanese gardens, as are rocks representing turtles and cranes. The earliest recorded Japanese gardens were

5709-539: The Eighth Air Force . The British Bomber Command focused on destroying German cities from early 1942 until the end of the war, and incendiaries represented 21 percent of the tonnage of bombs its aircraft dropped. Area bombing of German cities by Allied forces resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and massive firestorms in cities such as Hamburg and Dresden. Japanese forces conducted area bombing attacks on Chinese cities throughout

5882-461: The Heian period (794–1185). These were designed to be seen from small boats on the central lake. No original examples of these survive, but they were replaced by the "paradise garden" associated with Pure Land Buddhism , with a Buddha shrine on an island in the lake. Later large gardens are often in the kaiyū-shiki-teien , or promenade garden style, designed to be seen from a path circulating around

6055-633: The Kyoto Imperial Palace of 794, the Heian-jingū , was built in Kyoto in 1895 to celebrate the 1100th birthday of the city. The south garden is famous for its cherry blossom in spring, and for azaleas in the early summer. The west garden is known for its irises in June, and the large east garden lake recalls the leisurely boating parties of the 8th century. Near the end of the Heian period,

6228-525: The LORAN systems the B-29s used to navigate were more effective after dusk, it was also decided to conduct the attack at night. This led to a decision to direct the aircraft to attack individually rather than in formations as it was not possible for the B-29s to keep station at night. Flying individually would also lead to reductions in fuel consumption as the pilots would not need to constantly adjust their engines to remain in formation. These fuel savings allowed

6401-540: The Mariana Islands . These islands were close enough to Japan for the B-29s to conduct a sustained bombing campaign against Tokyo and most other Japanese cities. The first Superfortress flight over Tokyo took place on 1   November, when a reconnaissance aircraft photographed industrial facilities and urban areas in the western districts of the city. The remainder of Tokyo was photographed in subsequent reconnaissance flights, and these images were used to plan

6574-645: The Shōwa period (1926–1989), many traditional gardens were built by businessmen and politicians. After World War II, the principal builders of gardens were no longer private individuals, but banks, hotels, universities and government agencies. The Japanese garden became an extension of the landscape architecture with the building. New gardens were designed by landscape architects , and often used modern building materials such as concrete. Some modern Japanese gardens, such as Tōfuku-ji , designed by Mirei Shigemori , were inspired by classical models. Other modern gardens have taken

6747-565: The pleasure gardens of the emperors and nobles. They are mentioned in several brief passages of the Nihon Shoki , the first chronicle of Japanese history, published in 720 CE. In spring 74 CE, the chronicle recorded: "The Emperor Keikō put a few carp into a pond, and rejoiced to see them morning and evening". The following year, "The Emperor launched a double-hulled boat in the pond of Ijishi at Ihare, and went aboard with his imperial concubine, and they feasted sumptuously together". In 486,

6920-549: The 10 March raid and other attacks on urban areas. The overall plan for the strategic bombing campaign against Japan specified that it would commence with precision bombing raids against key industrial facilities, and later include firebombing attacks on cities. The first target directive issued to the XXI Bomber Command by its parent unit, the Twentieth Air Force , on 11 November, 1944 specified that

7093-407: The 314th Bombardment Wing's B-29s would have to fly a greater distance, they each carried 5 short tons (4.5 t) of bombs. The attack force began departing its bases at 5:35 pm local time on 9   March. It took two and three quarter hours for all of the 325 B-29s which were dispatched to take off. Turbulence was encountered on the flight to Japan, but the weather over Tokyo was good. There

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7266-439: The 53rd Air Regiment operating 25 or 26 night fighters. The regiment was experiencing difficulties converting to the night fighter role, which included an overly intensive training program that exhausted its pilots. Tokyo's civil defenses were also lacking. The city's fire department comprised around 8,000 firemen spread between 287 fire stations, but they had little modern firefighting equipment. The firefighting tactics used by

7439-557: The Air Staff wanted to wait to use the incendiaries until a large-scale program of firebombing could be mounted, to overwhelm the Japanese city defenses. Several raids were conducted to test the effectiveness of firebombing against Japanese cities. A small incendiary attack was made against Tokyo on the night of 29/30 November 1944, but caused little damage. Incendiaries were also used as part of several other raids. On 18 December, 84 XX Bomber Command B-29s conducted an incendiary raid on

7612-525: The American airmen reported only 76 sightings of Japanese fighters and 40 attacks by them over the course of the raid. Several Japanese pilots were killed when their aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed. Five of the downed B-29s managed to ditch in the sea, and their crews were rescued by United States Navy submarines. American casualties were 96 airmen killed or missing, and 6   wounded or injured. The surviving B-29s arrived back at their bases in

7785-570: The Chinese city of Hankou which caused extensive damage. That day, the Twentieth Air Force directed XXI Bomber Command to dispatch 100 B-29s on a firebombing raid against Nagoya . An initial attack took place on 22 December which was directed at an aircraft factory and involved 78 bombers using precision bombing tactics. Few of the incendiaries landed in the target area. On 3   January, 97 Superfortresses were dispatched to firebomb Nagoya. This attack started some fires, which were soon brought under control by firefighters. The success in countering

7958-790: The East Palace garden at Heijō Palace , Nara, has been faithfully reconstructed using the same location and even the original garden features that had been excavated. It appears from the small amount of literary and archaeological evidence available that the Japanese gardens of this time were modest versions of the Imperial gardens of the Tang dynasty, with large lakes scattered with artificial islands and artificial mountains. Pond edges were constructed with heavy rocks as embankment. While these gardens had some Buddhist and Daoist symbolism, they were meant to be pleasure gardens, and places for festivals and celebrations. Recent archaeological excavations in

8131-563: The Golden Pavilion , built in 1398, and Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion , built in 1482. In some ways they followed Zen principles of spontaneity, extreme simplicity and moderation, but in other ways they were traditional Chinese Song-dynasty temples; the upper floors of the Golden Pavilion were covered with gold leaf, and they were surrounded by traditional water gardens. The most notable garden style invented in this period

8304-475: The Hōzōmon's east (back) face are the waraji , two 4.5 metres (15 ft) long, 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) wide straw sandals that weigh 400 kilograms (880 lb) each. The Nakamise-dōri ( 仲見世通り ) is a street on the approach to the temple. It is said to have come about in the early 12th century, when neighbors of Sensō-ji were granted permission to set up shops on the approach to the temple. However, in May 1885

8477-473: The Japanese Government's official broadcaster Radio Tokyo reported the attack it was labeled "slaughter bombing". Other radio broadcasts focused on B-29 losses and the claimed desire of Japanese civilians to continue the war. American newspaper reports focused on the physical damage to Tokyo, made little reference to casualties and did not include estimates of the death toll. This resulted from

8650-532: The Japanese and United States Governments. As of 2011, the Tokyo Memorial Hall honored 105,400 people killed in the raid, the number of people whose ashes are interred in the building or were claimed by their family. As many bodies were not recovered, the number of fatalities is higher than this number. The large population movements out of and into Tokyo in the period before the raid, deaths of entire communities and destruction of records mean that it

8823-431: The Japanese aviation industry remained the primary target, the directive placed a stronger emphasis on firebombing raids against Japanese cities. The directive also called for a large-scale trial incendiary raid as soon as possible. This attack was made against Tokyo on 25 February. A total of 231 B-29s were dispatched, of which 172 arrived over the city; this was XXI Bomber Command's largest raid up to that time. The attack

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8996-651: The Japanese court sent fifteen more legations to the court of the Tang dynasty . These legations, with more than five hundred members each, included diplomats, scholars, students, Buddhist monks, and translators. They brought back Chinese writing, art objects, and detailed descriptions of Chinese gardens. In 612 CE, the Empress Suiko had a garden built with an artificial mountain, representing Shumi-Sen, or Mount Sumeru , reputed in Hindu and Buddhist legends to be located at

9169-465: The Japanese did not expect the Americans to change to low altitude bombing tactics. The military forces assigned to protect Tokyo were insufficient to stop a major raid. The Eastern District Army's Kanto Air Defense Sector was responsible for the air defense of the Tokyo region, and was accorded the highest priority for aircraft and anti-aircraft guns . The 1st Anti-Aircraft Division controlled

9342-559: The Kaminarimon is Nakamise-dori with its shops, followed by the Hōzōmon or "Treasure House Gate", which provides the entrance to the inner complex. Within the precincts stand a stately five-story pagoda and the main hall, devoted to Kannon. Many tourists, both Japanese and from abroad, visit Sensō-ji every year. Catering to the visiting crowds, the surrounding area has many traditional shops and eating places that feature traditional dishes (hand-made noodles, sushi, tempura, etc.). Nakamise-Dori,

9515-531: The Kototoi Bridge over the Sumida River causing hundreds of people to be burned to death. Few places in the targeted area provided safety. Many of those who attempted to evacuate to the large parks which had been created as refuges against fires following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake were killed when the conflagration moved across these open spaces. Similarly, thousands of people who gathered in

9688-692: The Mariana Islands between 6:10 and 11:27 am local time on 10 March. Many of the bombers were streaked with ashes from the fires. Widespread fires rapidly developed across northeastern Tokyo. Within 30 minutes of the start of the raid the situation was beyond the fire department's control. An hour into the raid the fire department abandoned its efforts to stop the conflagration. Instead, the firemen focused on guiding people to safety and rescuing those trapped in burning buildings. Over 125 firemen and 500 civil guards who had been assigned to help them were killed, and 96 fire engines destroyed. Driven by

9861-739: The Mongol invasions. The monks brought with them a new form of Buddhism, called simply Zen , or "meditation". Japan enjoyed a renaissance in religion, in the arts, and particularly in gardens. The term Zen garden appears in English writing in the 1930s for the first time, in Japan zen teien , or zenteki teien comes up even later, from the 1950s. It applies to a Song China -inspired composition technique derived from ink-painting. The composition or construction of such small, scenic gardens have no relation to religious Zen. Many famous temple gardens were built early in this period, including Kinkaku-ji,

10034-510: The Sensō-ji (the inner being the Hōzōmon) in Asakusa . The gate, with its lantern and statues, is popular with tourists. It stands 11.7 metres (38 ft) tall, 11.4 metres (37 ft) wide and covers an area of 69.3 square metres (746 sq ft). The first gate was built in 941, but the current gate dates back to 1960, after the previous gate was destroyed in a fire in 1865. The Kaminarimon

10207-479: The Superfortresses to carry twice their usual bomb load. USAAF intelligence had determined that the Japanese had only two night fighter units, and these were believed to pose little threat. As a result, LeMay decided to remove all of the B-29s' guns other than those at the rear of the aircraft to reduce the weight of the aircraft and further boost the weight of bombs they could carry. While LeMay made

10380-508: The UK, where the climate was similar and Japanese plants grew well. Japanese gardens, typically a section of a larger garden, continue to be popular in the West, and many typical Japanese garden plants, such as cherry trees and the many varieties of Acer palmatum or Japanese maple, are also used in all types of garden, giving a faint hint of the style to very many gardens. The ideas central to Japanese gardens were first introduced to Japan during

10553-564: The USAAF's B-29s until the end of the war. There has been a long-running debate over the morality of the 10 March firebombing of Tokyo. The raid is often cited as a key example in criticism of the Allies' strategic bombing campaigns . Many historians and commentators argue that it was not acceptable for the USAAF to deliberately target civilians, and other historians believe that the USAAF had no choice but to change to area bombing tactics given that

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10726-428: The airmen involved and the extensive damage shown in photographs taken by reconnaissance aircraft on 10 March. Arnold sent LeMay a congratulatory message which stated that "this mission shows your crews have the guts for anything". The aircrew who conducted the attack were also pleased with its results. A post-strike assessment by XXI Bomber Command attributed the scale of damage to the firebombing being concentrated on

10899-656: The ancient capital of Nara have brought to light the remains of two 8th-century gardens associated with the Imperial Court, a pond and stream garden – the To-in – located within the precinct of the Imperial Palace and a stream garden – Kyuseki – found within the modern city. They may be modeled after Chinese gardens, but the rock formations found in the To-in would appear to have more in common with prehistoric Japanese stone monuments than with Chinese antecedents, and

11072-423: The anti-aircraft guns stationed in the central region of Honshu, including Tokyo. It was made up of eight regiments with a total of 780 anti-aircraft guns, as well as a regiment equipped with searchlights . American military intelligence estimated that 331 heavy and 307 light anti-aircraft guns were allocated to Tokyo's defenses at the time of the raid. A network of picket boats , radar stations and lookout posts

11245-405: The arms of an armchair, with the garden between them. The gardens featured one or more lakes connected by bridges and winding streams. The south garden of the imperial residences had a uniquely Japanese feature: a large empty area of white sand or gravel. The emperor was the chief priest of Japan, and the white sand represented purity, and was a place where the gods could be invited to visit. The area

11418-455: The arrival of  kami , and the Shinto reverence for great rocks, lakes, ancient trees, and other "dignitaries of nature" would exert an enduring influence on Japanese garden design. Japanese gardens were also strongly influenced by the Chinese philosophy of Daoism and Amida Buddhism, imported from China in or around 552 CE. Daoist legends spoke of five mountainous islands inhabited by

11591-402: The attack on Tokyo. At a meeting on 7   March, LeMay agreed to conduct an intense series of raids against targets on the island of Honshu between 9   and 22 March as part of the preparations for the invasion of Okinawa on 1   April. LeMay decided to adopt radically different tactics for this campaign. Analysis by XXI Bomber Command staff of the 25 February raid concluded that

11764-401: The attention of the visitor. A path led to the entrance of the teahouse. Along the path was waiting bench for guests and a privy, and a stone water-basin near the teahouse, where the guests rinsed their hands and mouths before entering the tea room through a small, square door called nijiri-guchi , or "crawling-in entrance", which requires bending low to pass through. Sen no Rikyū decreed that

11937-466: The best of the wing commanding officers. The new tactics which were to be used in the operation were not well received by many airmen, who believed that it was safer to bomb from high altitudes and preferred to retain their defensive guns. Leaving behind the unneeded gunners also troubled many of the airmen, as bomber crews typically had a very close relationship. In preparation for the attack, XXI Bomber Command's maintenance staff worked intensively over

12110-412: The bomb struck the ground, a fuse ignited a charge which first sprayed napalm from the weapon, and then ignited it. Prior to March 1945, stockpiles of incendiary bombs were built up in the Mariana Islands. These were accumulated on the basis of XXI Bomber Command plans which specified that the B-29s would each carry 4 short tons (3.6 t) of the weapons on 40 percent of their monthly sorties. Arnold and

12283-611: The bomber crews seeking to visually identify their targets. This proved difficult to achieve in practice. During the last 20 months of the war in Europe, non-visual attacks accounted for about half of the American strategic bombing campaign against Germany. These included major area bombing raids on Berlin and Dresden , as well as attacks on several towns and cities conducted as part of Operation Clarion . The American attacks on Germany mainly used high-explosive bombs, with incendiary bombs accounting for only 14 percent of those dropped by

12456-431: The bombers and reduced in intensity over time as gun positions were overwhelmed by fires. Nevertheless, the Japanese gunners shot down 12 B-29s. A further 42 were damaged, of which two had to be written off. The Japanese fighters were ineffective; their pilots received no guidance from radar stations and the efforts of the anti-aircraft gunners and fighter units were not coordinated. No B-29s were shot down by fighters, and

12629-645: The campaign, which was forecast to be in March 1945. Preparations for firebombing raids against Japan began well before March 1945. In 1943, the USAAF tested the effectiveness of incendiary bombs on adjoining German and Japanese -style domestic building complexes at the Dugway Proving Ground . These trials demonstrated that M69 incendiaries were particularly effective at starting uncontrollable fires. These weapons were dropped from B-29s in clusters , and used napalm as their incendiary filler. After

12802-608: The capital. From April, the Japanese reduced their attempts to intercept Allied air raids to preserve aircraft to contest the expected invasion of Japan . The 1st Anti-Aircraft Division remained active until the end of the war in August 1945. The Japanese military never developed adequate defenses against night air raids, with the night fighter force remaining ineffective and many cities not being protected by anti-aircraft guns. Between April and mid-May XXI Bomber Command mainly focused on attacking airfields in southern Japan in support of

12975-464: The center of the gate. It is 3.9 metres (13 ft) tall, 3.3 metres (11 ft) wide and weighs approximately 700 kilograms (1,500 lb). The current lantern, the fifth iteration, was built by Takahashi Chōchin K.K in 2013 and has the same metallic base on the bottom as the previous lantern. The base has a name plate that says "Matsushita Denki", an abbreviated form of Panasonic's old Japanese name, Matsushita Denki Sangyo Kabushiki Gaisha. The front of

13148-523: The centre of the world. During the reign of the same empress, one of her ministers, Soga no Umako, had a garden built at his palace featuring a lake with several small islands, representing the islands of the Eight Immortals famous in Chinese legends and Daoist philosophy. This palace became the property of the Japanese emperors, was named "The Palace of the Isles", and was mentioned several times in

13321-471: The chronicle recorded that "The Emperor Kenzō went into the garden and feasted at the edge of a winding stream". Chinese gardens had a very strong influence on early Japanese gardens. In or around 552 CE, Buddhism was officially installed from China, via Korea, into Japan. Between 600 and 612 CE, the Japanese emperor sent four legations to the court of the Chinese Sui dynasty . Between 630 and 838 CE,

13494-501: The cities. The number of people killed in Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe were much lower than those in 10 March attack on Tokyo with fewer than 10,000 fatalities in each operation. The lower casualties were, in part, the result of better preparations by the Japanese authorities which had resulted from a realization that they had greatly under-estimated the threat posed by firebombing. The Japanese government initially attempted to suppress news of

13667-431: The city in an attempt to stop the spread of fire; over 200,000 houses were destroyed as part of this effort. Rubble was often not cleared from the firebreaks, which provided a source of fuel. The Japanese Government also encouraged children and civilians with non-essential jobs to evacuate Tokyo , and 1.7 million had departed by March 1945. However, many other civilians had moved into Tokyo from impoverished rural areas over

13840-624: The city's director of health estimated that 83,600 people were killed and another 40,918 wounded. The Tokyo fire department put the casualties at 97,000 killed and 125,000 wounded, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department believed that 124,711 people had been killed or wounded. After the war, the United States Strategic Bombing Survey estimated the casualties as 87,793 killed and 40,918 injured. The survey also stated that

14013-425: The content of USAAF communiques and reports rather than censorship . The attack considerably damaged the morale of Japanese civilians, with it and the other firebombing raids in March convincing most that the war situation was worse than their government had admitted. The Japanese Government responded with a combination of repression, including heavy penalties for people accused of disloyalty or spreading rumors, and

14186-560: The country. There were on average only seven days of clear skies each month, and an intense jet stream made it difficult to aim bombs from high altitudes. Due to these constraints, LeMay decided to focus XXI Bomber Command's attacks on Japanese cities. While he made this decision on his own initiative, the general directions issued to LeMay permitted such operations. On 5   March XXI Bomber Command's personnel were advised that no further major attacks would be scheduled until 9   March. During this period LeMay's staff finalized plans for

14359-413: The courtyard there is a tree that was hit by a bomb in the air raids, and it had regrown in the husk of the old tree and is a similar symbol as the temple itself. The temple now has a titanium tiled roof that maintains a historic image but is stronger and lighter. The Kaminarimon gate was rebuilt in 1960, the Hōzōmon gate in 1964, and the pagoda in 1973. The Nishinomiya Inari shrine was located within

14532-399: The decision to shift to firebombing. The operation during the early hours of 10 March was the first major firebombing raid against a Japanese city. The USAAF units employed significantly different tactics from those used in precision raids, including bombing by night with the aircraft flying at low altitudes. The extensive destruction caused by the raid led to these tactics becoming standard for

14705-466: The defense commands, little action was taken on the scattered reports which came in from the boats. At around midnight on 9   March a small number of B-29s were detected near Katsuura , but were thought to be conducting reconnaissance flights. Subsequent sightings of B-29s flying at low levels were not taken seriously, and the Japanese radar stations focused on searching for American aircraft operating at their usual high altitudes. The first alarm that

14878-399: The division's flying regiments (the 53rd Air Regiment) was also converted to a specialized night fighter unit. On the night of 3/4 March, the Japanese military intercepted American radio signals which indicated that the XXI Bomber Command was conducting a major night flying exercise. This was interpreted to mean that the force was preparing to start large-scale night raids on Japan. However,

15051-422: The east, to enter the garden, pass under the house, and then leave from the southeast. In this way, the water of the blue dragon will carry away all the bad spirits from the house toward the white tiger. The Imperial gardens of the Heian period were water gardens , where visitors promenaded in elegant lacquered boats, listening to music, viewing the distant mountains, singing, reading poetry, painting, and admiring

15224-647: The emperors and the rivalry of feudal warlords resulted in two civil wars (1156 and 1159), which destroyed most of Kyoto and its gardens. The capital moved to Kamakura , and then in 1336 back to the Muromachi quarter of Kyoto. The emperors ruled in name only; real power was held by a military governor, the shōgun . During this period, the government reopened relations with China, which had been broken off almost three hundred years earlier. Japanese monks went again to study in China, and Chinese monks came to Japan, fleeing

15397-628: The emphasis from precision bombing to area bombing was the most promising option to turn the XXI Bomber Command's performance around. USAAF planners began assessing the feasibility of a firebombing campaign against Japanese cities in 1943. Japan's main industrial facilities were vulnerable to such attacks as they were concentrated in several large cities, and a high proportion of production took place in homes and small factories in urban areas. The planners estimated that incendiary bomb attacks on Japan's six largest cities could cause physical damage to almost 40 percent of industrial facilities and result in

15570-535: The end of the 16th century referring to isolated tea houses. It originally applied to the simple country houses of samurai warriors and Buddhist monks, but in the Edo period it was used in every kind of building, from houses to palaces. The sukiya style was used in the most famous garden of the period, the Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto. The buildings were built in a very simple, undecorated style,

15743-415: The end of the period in which XXI Bomber Command primarily conducted such raids. Civilian casualties during these operations had been relatively low; for instance, all the raids against Tokyo prior to 10 March caused 1,292 deaths in the city. In early March, LeMay judged that further precision bombing of Japanese industrial targets was unlikely to be successful due to the prevailing weather conditions over

15916-453: The extensive scale of the destruction in an attempt to motivate anger against the United States. Stories about the attack were on the front page of all Japanese newspapers on 11 March. Reporting focused on the perceived immorality of the attack and the number of B-29s which had been destroyed. Subsequent newspaper reports made little reference to the scale of casualties, and the few photos which were published showed little physical damage. When

16089-489: The extent of the 10 March raid, but later used it for propaganda purposes. A communique issued by the Imperial Headquarters on 10 March stated that only "various places within the city were set afire". However, rumors of the devastation rapidly spread across the country. In a break from the usual practice of downplaying the damage caused by air attacks, the Japanese Government encouraged the media to emphasize

16262-512: The fire department were ineffective against incendiary bombs. Civilians had been organized into more than 140,000 neighborhood firefighting associations with a nominal strength of 2.75 million people, but these were also ill-equipped. The basic equipment issued to the firefighting associations was incapable of extinguishing fires started by M69s. Few air raid shelters had been constructed, though most households dug crude foxholes to shelter in near their homes. Firebreaks had been created across

16435-478: The fire. It also caused glass in windows to liquify, and the superheated air and cyclonic winds from the firestorm blew the hot liquified glass into the air, causing it to rain down and melt into people's skin. Families often sought to remain with their local neighborhood associations, but it was easy to become separated in the conditions. Few families managed to stay together throughout the night. Escape frequently proved impossible, as smoke reduced visibility to just

16608-468: The fires expanded, the American bombers spread out to attack unaffected parts of the target area. Power's B-29 circled Tokyo for 90 minutes, with a team of cartographers who were assigned to him mapping the spread of the fires. The raid lasted for approximately two hours and forty minutes. Visibility over Tokyo decreased over the course of the raid due to the extensive smoke over the city. This led some American aircraft to bomb parts of Tokyo well outside

16781-433: The firestorm, and civilians who sheltered in them were burned to death or died from suffocation. As the firestorm spread, civilians fled through the streets, desperate to escape the firestorm. Thousands of the evacuating civilians were killed by fire and by asphyxiation after the firestorm sucked oxygen out of the air. The heat was so intense that it caused people's clothes to burst into flames without actually having touched

16954-455: The form of unusual rocks or trees marked with cords of rice fiber ( shimenawa ) and surrounded with white stones or pebbles, a symbol of purity. The white gravel courtyard became a distinctive feature of Shinto shrines, Imperial Palaces, Buddhist temples, and Zen gardens . Although its original meaning is somewhat obscure, one of the Japanese words for garden— niwa —came to mean a place that had been cleansed and purified in anticipation of

17127-514: The garden should be left unswept for several hours before the ceremony, so that leaves would be scattered in a natural way on the path. Notable gardens of the period include: During the Edo period , power was won and consolidated by the Tokugawa clan , who became the shōgun , and moved the capital to Edo , which became Tokyo . The emperor remained in Kyoto as a figurehead leader, with authority only over cultural and religious affairs. While

17300-399: The garden, with fixed stopping points for viewing. Specialized styles, often small sections in a larger garden, include the moss garden , the dry garden with gravel and rocks, associated with Zen Buddhism , the roji or teahouse garden, designed to be seen only from a short pathway, and the tsubo-niwa , a very small urban garden. Most modern Japanese homes have little space for

17473-461: The garden. Edo promenade gardens were often composed of a series of meisho , or "famous views", similar to postcards. These could be imitations of famous natural landscapes, like Mount Fuji , or scenes from Taoist or Buddhist legends, or landscapes illustrating verses of poetry. Unlike Zen gardens, they were designed to portray nature as it appeared, not the internal rules of nature. Well-known Edo-period gardens include: The Meiji period saw

17646-408: The gardens of nobles in the capital, the gardens of villas at the edge of the city, and the gardens of temples. The architecture of the palaces, residences and gardens in the Heian period followed Chinese practice. Houses and gardens were aligned on a north-south axis, with the residence to the north and the ceremonial buildings and main garden to the south, there were two long wings to the south, like

17819-443: The gardens of the Edo period were either promenade gardens or dry rock Zen gardens, and they were usually much larger than earlier gardens. The promenade gardens of the period made extensive use of borrowed scenery ( shakkei ). Vistas of distant mountains are integrated in the design of the garden; or, even better, building the garden on the side of a mountain and using the different elevations to attain views over landscapes outside

17992-480: The gate along with several other of the major structures in the temple complex. The gate burnt to the ground in 1757 AD and again in 1865 AD. The Kaminarimon's current structure was dedicated in December 1960 AD . Ninety-five years after the last fire, Konosuke Matsushita , the founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (now Panasonic ), was asked to rebuild the gate. With monetary donations from Matsushita, it

18165-516: The government of Tokyo ordered all shop owners to leave. In December of that same year the area was reconstructed in Western-style brick. During the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake many of the shops were destroyed, then rebuilt in 1925 using concrete, only to be destroyed again during the bombings of World War II. The street is approximately 250 metres (820 ft) long and contains around 72 shops. Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945) On

18338-455: The grounds of the Sensō-ji temple in Asakusa died. Others sheltered in solid buildings, such as schools or theatres, and in canals. These were not proof against the firestorm, with smoke inhalation and heat killing large numbers of people in schools. In one instance, over a thousand people were killed after they took refuge in a school's massive swimming pool and were subsequently boiled alive as

18511-412: The grounds that he had wanted to protect Arnold from blame had the attack been a failure. LeMay notified the Twentieth Air Force headquarters of his intended tactics on 8   March, a day he knew Arnold and Norstad would be absent. There is no evidence that LeMay expected that the Twentieth Air Force would object to firebombing civilian areas, but he may have been concerned that it would have judged that

18684-519: The guardian deities of the Buddha . Because of these statues, the gate was originally called the Niōmon ( 仁王門 , "Niō Gate" ) before it was renamed the Hōzōmon. The gate also features three large lanterns. The largest and most prominent lantern is a red chōchin that hangs under the center of the gate's opening. With a height of 3.75 metres (12.3 ft), a diameter of 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) and

18857-595: The heads being saved, and the statues restored for the gate's 1960 reconstruction. Two additional statues stand on the reverse of the gate: the Buddhist god Tenryū on the east, and the goddess Kinryū on the west side. These were donated in 1978 to commemorate the 1350th anniversary of the first appearance of the bodhisattva Kannon ( Avalokiteśvara ) at Asakusa, which led to the founding of Sensō-ji. The statues were carved by then-106-year-old master sculptor Hirakushi Denchū . A giant red lantern ( chōchin ) hangs under

19030-400: The incendiary bombs had been dropped from too high an altitude, and attacking at lower levels would both improve accuracy and enable the B-29s to carry more bombs. This would also expose them to the Japanese air defenses, but LeMay judged that poor Japanese fire control tactics meant that the additional risk was moderate. As weather conditions over Japan tended to be more favorable at night and

19203-445: The inevitable turnover of plants, in a way that is extremely rare in the West. Awareness of the Japanese style of gardening reached the West near the end of the 19th century, and was enthusiastically received as part of the fashion for Japonisme , and as Western gardening taste had by then turned away from rigid geometry to a more naturalistic style, of which the Japanese style was an attractive variant. There were immediately popular in

19376-399: The informally defined Shitamachi district of Tokyo, which was mainly populated by working-class people and artisans. With a population of around 1.1 million, it was one of the most densely populated urban areas in the world. Zone I contained few militarily significant industrial facilities, though there were a large number of small factories which supplied Japan's war industries. The area

19549-521: The invasion of Okinawa. From 11 May until the end of the war the B-29s conducted day precision bombing attacks when weather conditions were favorable, and night firebombing raids against cities at all other times. Further incendiary attacks were conducted against Tokyo, with the final taking place on the night of 25/26 May. By this time, 50.8 percent of the city had been destroyed and more than 4   million people left homeless. Further heavy bomber raids against Tokyo were judged to not be worthwhile, and it

19722-425: The islands, and by the four distinct seasons in Japan, including hot, wet summers and snowy winters. Japanese gardens have their roots in the national religion of Shinto , with its story of the creation of eight perfect islands, and of the shinchi , the lakes of the gods. Prehistoric Shinto shrines to the kami , the gods and spirits, are found on beaches and in forests all over the island. They often took

19895-655: The lack of public reaction in the United States to the firebombing of Tokyo, he permitted these operations to continue until the end of the war. The raid was followed by similar attacks against Nagoya on the night of 11/12 March, Osaka in the early hours of 14 March, Kobe on 17/18 March and Nagoya again on 18/19 March. An unsuccessful night precision raid was also conducted against an aircraft engine factory in Nagoya on 23/24 March. The firebombing attacks ended only because XXI Bomber Command's stocks of incendiaries were exhausted. The attacks on Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe during March burned out over 31 square miles (80 km ) of

20068-420: The lantern displays the gate's name, Kaminarimon ( 雷門 ) . Painted on the back is the gate's official name, Fūraijinmon ( 風雷神門 ) . During festivals such as Sanja Matsuri , the lantern is collapsed to let tall objects pass through the gate. The characters 金龍山 ( Kinryū-zan ) on the tablet above the lantern read from right to left and reference the Sensō-ji. The Hōzōmon ( 宝蔵門 , "Treasure-House Gate" )

20241-454: The light Japanese anti-aircraft guns to reach, and below the effective range of the heavy anti-aircraft guns. LeMay was unable to lead the raid in person as he had been prohibited from placing himself in a situation where he could be captured after being briefed on the development of atomic bombs . Instead, the attack was led by the 314th Bombardment Wing's commanding officer, Brigadier General Thomas S. Power . LeMay considered Power to be

20414-408: The limited options to end the war which were available at the time. For instance, both Arnold and LeMay regarded the 10 March raid and subsequent firebombing operations as being necessary to save American lives by bringing the war to a rapid conclusion. President Franklin D. Roosevelt probably also held this view. While Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson was aware of LeMay's tactics and troubled by

20587-427: The loss of 7.6 million man-months of labor. It was also estimated that these attacks would kill over 500,000 people, render about 7.75 million homeless and force almost 3.5 million to be evacuated. The plans for the strategic bombing offensive against Japan developed in 1943 specified that it would transition from a focus on the precision bombing of industrial targets to area bombing from around halfway in

20760-560: The main mission because they were afraid of being killed. Tokyo's defenders were expecting an attack, but did not detect the American force until it arrived over the city. The air defense units in the Kanto Plain area had been placed on alert, but the night fighter units were instructed not to sortie any aircraft until an incoming raid was detected. While picket boats spotted the attack force, poor radio reception meant that most of their reports were not received. Due to disorganization in

20933-465: The main pavilion, or from the "Hall of the Pure View", located on a higher elevation in the garden. In the east of the garden, on a peninsula, is an arrangement of stones designed to represent the mythical Mount Horai. A wooden bridge leads to an island representing a crane, and a stone bridge connects this island to another representing a tortoise, which is connected by an earth-covered bridge back to

21106-437: The main target was Japanese aircraft and aviation engine factories. These targets were to be attacked by precision bombing. Japanese cities were specified as the secondary target, with area bombing being authorized for use against them. The directive also indicated that firebombing raids were likely to be ordered against cities to test the effectiveness of this tactic. The Twentieth Air Force had an unusual command structure, as it

21279-430: The majority of the casualties were women, children and elderly people. Frank wrote in 1999 that historians generally believe that there were between 90,000 and 100,000 fatalities, but some argue that the number was much higher. For instance, Edwin P. Hoyt stated in 1987 that 200,000 people had been killed and in 2009 Mark Selden wrote that the number of deaths may have been several times the estimate of 100,000 used by

21452-421: The modernization of Japan, and the re-opening of Japan to the West. Many of the old private gardens had been abandoned and left to ruin. In 1871, a new law transformed many gardens from the earlier Edo period into public parks, preserving them. Garden designers, confronted with ideas from the West experimented with western styles, leading to such gardens as Kyu-Furukawa Gardens , or Shinjuku Gyoen . Others, more in

21625-607: The most combustible districts in Tokyo. The orders for the raid issued to the B-29 crews stated that the main purpose of the attack was to destroy the many small factories located within the target area, but also noted that it was intended to cause civilian casualties as a means of disrupting production at major industrial facilities. Each of XXI Bomber Command's three wings was allocated a different altitude to bomb from, in bands between 5,000 feet (1,500 m) and 7,000 feet (2,100 m). These altitudes were calculated to be too high for

21798-455: The most destructive single air attack in human history. The Japanese air and civil defenses proved largely inadequate; 14 American aircraft and 96 airmen were lost. The attack on Tokyo was an intensification of the air raids on Japan which had begun in June 1944. Prior to this operation, the USAAF had focused on a precision bombing campaign against Japanese industrial facilities. These attacks were generally unsuccessful, which contributed to

21971-464: The natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden designers to suggest a natural landscape, and to express the fragility of existence as well as time's unstoppable advance. Ancient Japanese art inspired past garden designers. Water is an important feature of many gardens, as are rocks and often gravel. Despite there being many attractive Japanese flowering plants, herbaceous flowers generally play much less of

22144-575: The natural, serpentine course of the Kyuseki stream garden may be far less formal than what existed in Tang China. Whatever their origins, both the To-in and Kyuseki clearly anticipate certain developments in later Japanese gardens. In 794 CE, at the beginning of the Heian period (794–1185 CE), the Japanese court moved its capital to Heian-kyō (present-day Kyoto ). During this period, there were three different kinds of gardens: palace gardens and

22317-581: The new tactics were too risky. The Japanese military anticipated that the USAAF would make major night attacks on the Tokyo region. After several small night raids were conducted on the region during December 1944 and January 1945, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force's 10th Air Division , which was responsible for intercepting attacks on the Kantō region , placed a greater emphasis on training its pilots to operate at night. One of

22490-431: The new tactics, but there were fears that they could result in heavy American casualties. These concerns were shared by some of LeMay's staff. XXI Bomber Command's intelligence officers predicted that 70 percent of the bombers could be destroyed. LeMay consulted Arnold's chief of staff Brigadier General Lauris Norstad about the new tactics, but did not formally seek approval to adopt them. He later justified this action on

22663-697: The night of 9/10 March 1945, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) conducted a devastating firebombing raid on Tokyo , the Japanese capital city. This attack was code-named Operation Meetinghouse by the USAAF and is known as the Tokyo Great Air Raid ( 東京大空襲 , Tōkyō dai-kūshū ) in Japan. Bombs dropped from 279 Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers burned out much of eastern Tokyo. More than 90,000 and possibly over 100,000 Japanese people were killed, mostly civilians, and one million were left homeless, making it

22836-442: The north of Japan kept to Edo period blueprint design. A third wave was the naturalistic style of gardens, invented by captains of industry and powerful politicians like Aritomo Yamagata . Many gardeners soon were designing and constructing gardens catering to this taste. One of the gardens well-known for his technical perfection in this style was Ogawa Jihei VII , also known as Ueji. Notable gardens of this period include: During

23009-487: The others in. These Superfortresses arrived over the city shortly before midnight on 9   March. They carried extra fuel, additional radios and XXI Bomber Command's best radio operators instead of bombs, and circled Tokyo at an altitude of 25,000 feet (7,600 m) throughout the raid. This tactic proved unsuccessful, and was later judged to have been unnecessary. The attack on Tokyo commenced at 12:08 am local time on 10 March. Pathfinder bombers simultaneously approached

23182-487: The peninsula. The garden also includes a waterfall at the foot of a wooded hill. One characteristic of the Momoyama period garden visible at Sanbō-in is the close proximity of the buildings to the water. The Momoyama period also saw the development of chanoyu (tea ceremony), the chashitsu (teahouse), and the roji (tea garden). Tea had been introduced to Japan from China by Buddhist monks, who used it as

23355-400: The period still existing is Sanbō-in , rebuilt by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1598 to celebrate the festival of the cherry blossom and to recreate the splendor of an ancient garden. Three hundred garden-builders worked on the project, digging the lakes and installing seven hundred boulders in a space of 540 square metres (5,800 sq ft). The garden was designed to be seen from the veranda of

23528-418: The political center of Japan was now Tokyo, Kyoto remained the cultural capital, the center for religion and art. The shōgun provided the emperors with little power, but with generous subsidies for building gardens. The Edo period saw the widespread use of a new kind of Japanese architecture, called sukiya-zukuri , which means literally "building according to chosen taste". The term first appeared at

23701-530: The ponds and streams are carefully placed according to Buddhist geomancy , the art of putting things in the place most likely to attract good fortune. The rules for the placement of water were laid out in the first manual of Japanese gardens, the Sakuteiki ("Records of Garden Making") , in the 11th century. According to the Sakuteiki , water should enter the garden from the east or southeast and flow toward

23874-407: The porch of the residence the abbot of the monastery. There have been many debates about what the rocks are supposed to represent, but, as garden historian Gunter Nitschke wrote, "The garden at Ryōan-ji does not symbolize. It does not have the value of representing any natural beauty that can be found in the world, real or mythical. I consider it as an abstract composition of "natural" objects in space,

24047-523: The precincts of Sensō-ji and a torii identified the entry into the hallowed ground of the shrine. A bronze plaque on the gateway structure listed those who contributed to the construction of the torii, which was erected in 1727 ( Kyōhō 12, 11th month ). After the Meiji government ordered the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in 1868, the Inari shrine was moved to the grounds of the Asakusa Shrine , where it

24220-493: The precision bombing campaign had failed. It is generally acknowledged that the tactics used against Tokyo and in similar subsequent raids were militarily successful. The attack is commemorated in Japan at two official memorials, several neighborhood memorials, and a privately owned museum. Pre-war USAAF doctrine emphasized the precision bombing of key industrial facilities over area bombing of cities. Early American strategic bombing attacks on Germany used precision tactics, with

24393-496: The raid died over the following days. After the raid, civilians across Tokyo offered assistance to the refugees. Firemen, police officers and soldiers also tried to rescue survivors trapped under collapsed buildings. Many refugees who had previously lived in slums were accommodated in prosperous parts of the city. Some of these refugees resented the differences in living conditions, prompting riots and looting. Refugee centers were also established in parks and other open areas. Over

24566-401: The raid led the Japanese authorities to become over-confident about their ability to protect cities against incendiary attacks. The next firebombing raid was directed against Kobe on 4   February, and bombs dropped from 69 B-29s started fires which destroyed or damaged 1,039 buildings. On 19 February, the Twentieth Air Force issued a new targeting directive for XXI Bomber Command. While

24739-416: The same period. On 8 March, LeMay issued orders for a major firebombing attack on Tokyo the next night. The raid was to target a rectangular area in northeastern Tokyo designated Zone I by the USAAF, which measured approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) by 3 miles (4.8 km). This area was divided by the Sumida River , and included most of Asakusa , Honjo and Fukagawa Wards. These wards formed part of

24912-577: The scenery. The social life in the gardens was memorably described in the classic Japanese novel The Tale of Genji , written in about 1005 by Murasaki Shikibu , a lady-in-waiting to the empress. The traces of one such artificial lake, Osawa no ike, near the Daikaku-ji temple in Kyoto, still can be seen. It was built by the Emperor Saga , who ruled from 809 to 823, and was said to be inspired by Dongting Lake in China. A scaled-down replica of

25085-404: The south, which represents fire, which are opposites ( yin and yang ) and therefore will bring good luck. The Sakuteiki recommends several possible miniature landscapes using lakes and streams: the "ocean style", which features rocks that appear to have been eroded by waves, a sandy beach, and pine trees; the "broad river style", recreating the course of a large river, winding like a serpent;

25258-543: The street leading from the Thunder Gate to the temple itself, is lined with small shops selling souvenirs ranging from fans, ukiyo-e ( woodblock prints ), kimono and other robes, Buddhist scrolls, traditional sweets, to Godzilla toys, t-shirts and mobile phone straps. These shops themselves are part of a living tradition of selling to pilgrims who walked to Sensō-ji. Within the temple itself, and also at many places on its approach, there are o-mikuji stalls. For

25431-426: The strong wind, the large numbers of small fires started by the American incendiaries rapidly merged into major blazes. These formed firestorms which quickly advanced in a northwesterly direction and destroyed or damaged almost all the buildings in their path. The only buildings which survived the fire were constructed of stone. By an hour after the start of the attack most of eastern Tokyo either had been destroyed or

25604-436: The target area at right angles to each other. These bombers were manned by the 73rd and 313th Bombardment Wings' best crews. Their M47 bombs rapidly started fires in an X shape, which was used to direct the attacks for the remainder of the force. Each of XXI Bomber Command's wings and their subordinate groups had been briefed to attack different areas within the X shape to ensure that the raid caused widespread damage. As

25777-524: The target area. The heat from the fires also resulted in the final waves of aircraft experiencing heavy turbulence. Some American airmen also needed to use oxygen masks when the odor of burning flesh entered their aircraft. A total of 279 B-29s attacked Tokyo, dropping 1,665 short tons (1,510 t) of bombs. Another 19 Superfortresses which were unable to reach Tokyo struck targets of opportunity or targets of last resort. These aircraft turned back early due to mechanical problems or pilots deciding to abort

25950-580: The time of the raid the 314th Bombardment Wing was arriving at Guam in the Marianas, and able to provide only 56 B-29s. The B-29s in the squadrons which were scheduled to arrive over Tokyo first were armed with M47 bombs ; these weapons used napalm and were capable of starting fires which required mechanized firefighting equipment to control. The bombers in the other units were loaded with clusters of M69s. The 73rd and 313th Bomb Wings' Superfortresses were each loaded with 7 short tons (6.4 t) of bombs. As

26123-414: The ultimate decision to adopt the new tactics, he acknowledged that his plan combined ideas put forward by many officers. On 7   March, some of the B-29 crews flew training missions in which they practiced using radar to navigate and attack a target from low altitude. The airmen were not told the purpose of this training. The officers who commanded XXI Bomber Command's three flying wings agreed with

26296-400: The war. Few attempts were made to target industrial facilities, with the goal of the campaign being to terrorize civilians and cut the Chinese forces off from their sources of supplies. Chongqing , China's provisional capital, was frequently attacked by aircraft using incendiary and high explosive bombs. These raids destroyed most of the city. The American Doolittle Raid on 18 April 1942

26469-475: The water turned to steam. Many of the people who attempted to shelter in canals were killed by smoke or when the passing firestorm sucked oxygen out of the area. However, these bodies of water provided safety to thousands of others. The fire finally burned itself out during mid-morning on 10 March, and came to a stop when it reached large open areas or the Nakagawa Canal. Thousands of people injured in

26642-636: The west, because the east is the home of the Green Dragon ( seiryu ), an ancient Chinese divinity adopted in Japan, and the west is the home of the White Tiger, the divinity of the east. Water flowing from east to west will carry away evil, and the owner of the garden will be healthy and have a long life. According to the Sakuteiki , another favorable arrangement is for the water to flow from north, which represents water in Buddhist cosmology, to

26815-621: The west. In the lake in front of the temple is a small island of white stones, representing Mount Horai, the home of the Eight Immortals of the Daoists, connected to the temple by a bridge, which symbolized the way to paradise. It was designed for mediation and contemplation, not as a pleasure garden. It was a lesson in Daoist and Buddhist philosophy created with landscape and architecture, and a prototype for future Japanese gardens. Notable existing or recreated Heian gardens include: The weakness of

26988-579: Was being affected by fires. The heat in some areas was reported to have reached a temperature of up to 1,800 degrees. Civilians who stayed at their homes or attempted to fight the fire had virtually no chance of survival. Historian Richard B. Frank has written that "the key to survival was to grasp quickly that the situation was hopeless and flee". Soon after the start of the raid news broadcasts began advising civilians to evacuate as quickly as possible, but not all did so immediately. The foxholes which had been dug near most homes offered no protection against

27161-452: Was conducted in daylight, with the bombers flying in formation at high altitudes. It caused extensive damage, with almost 28,000 buildings being destroyed. This was the most destructive raid to have been conducted against Japan, and LeMay and the Twentieth Air Force judged that it demonstrated that large-scale firebombing was an effective tactic. The failure of a precision bombing attack on an aircraft factory in Tokyo on 4   March marked

27334-570: Was destroyed in the 10 March 1945 firebombing. Sensō-ji is the focus of Tokyo's largest and most popular festival , Sanja Matsuri . This takes place over 3 to 4 days in late spring, and sees the surrounding streets closed to traffic from dawn until late evening. Dominating the entrance to the temple is the Kaminarimon or "Thunder Gate". This imposing Buddhist structure features a massive paper lantern dramatically painted in vivid red-and-black tones to suggest thunderclouds and lightning. Beyond

27507-422: Was first built in 941 AD by Taira no Kinmasa, a military commander. It was originally located near Komagata, but it was reconstructed in its current location in 1635. This is believed to be when the gods of wind and thunder were first placed on the gate. The gate has been destroyed many times throughout the ages. Four years after its relocation, the Kaminarimon burned down, and in 1649 AD Tokugawa Iemitsu rebuilt

27680-430: Was founded in 645 AD, which makes it the oldest-established temple in Tokyo. In the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate , Tokugawa Ieyasu designated Sensō-ji as tutelary temple of the Tokugawa clan . During World War II, the temple was destroyed during the 10 March 1945 firebombing air raid on Tokyo . The main hall was rebuilt in 1951–58 and has been perceived as a symbol of rebirth and peace by Japanese people. In

27853-471: Was highly vulnerable to firebombing, as most buildings were constructed from wood and bamboo and were closely spaced. Due to this vulnerability, it had suffered extensive damage and heavy casualties from fires caused by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake . The United States' intelligence services were aware of how vulnerable the region remained to fire, with the Office of Strategic Services rating it as containing

28026-413: Was little cloud cover, and visibility was good for the first bomber crews to arrive over Tokyo; they were able to see clearly for 10 miles (16 km). Conditions on the ground were cold and windy, with the city experiencing gusts of between 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) and 67 miles per hour (108 km/h) blowing from the southeast. The first B-29s over Tokyo were four aircraft tasked with guiding

28199-568: Was originally the villa of Fujiwara Michinaga (966–1028), who married his daughters to the sons of the Emperor. After his death, his son transformed the villa into a temple, and in 1053 built the Hall of Phoenix, which still stands. The Hall is built in the traditional style of a Chinese Song dynasty temple, on an island in the lake. It houses a gilded statue of the Amitābha Buddha, looking to

28372-436: Was personally headed by General Henry H. Arnold , the commanding officer of the USAAF. B-29 raids on Tokyo commenced on 24 November. The first raid targeted an aircraft engine factory on the city's outskirts, and caused little damage. XXI Bomber Command's subsequent raids on Tokyo and other cities mainly used precision bombing tactics and high explosive bombs, and were largely unsuccessful due to adverse weather conditions and

28545-488: Was rebuilt by Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1636. It stood for 300 more years until it was once again burned down during the Tokyo air raids of 1945 . In 1964, the present steel-reinforced concrete structure was built with a donation of ¥ 150 million from Yonetarō Motoya. Since the gate was reconstructed using flame-resistant materials, the upper story of the Hōzōmon stores the Sensō-ji's treasured sutras . These treasures include

28718-418: Was rebuilt in 1960. Four statues are housed in the Kaminarimon, two in the front alcoves and two on the other side. On the front of the gate, the statues of the Shinto gods Fūjin and Raijin are displayed. Fūjin, the god of wind, is located on the east side of the gate, while Raijin, the god of thunder, is located on the west side. The original sculptures were severely damaged in the fire of 1865, with only

28891-402: Was removed from XXI Bomber Command's target list. By the end of the war, 75 percent of the sorties conducted by XXI Bomber Command had been part of firebombing operations. Japanese garden Japanese gardens ( 日本庭園 , nihon teien ) are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight

29064-409: Was responsible for detecting incoming raids. Due to shortages of radar and other fire control equipment, Japanese anti-aircraft gunners found it difficult to target aircraft operating at night. The radar stations had a short range, and fire control equipment for the anti-aircraft batteries was unsophisticated. As of March 1945, most of the 10th Air Division's 210 combat aircraft were day fighters, with

29237-529: Was responsible for the building of the zen gardens of Nanzen-ji , Saihō-ji (the Moss Garden), and Tenryū-ji . Notable gardens of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods include: The Momoyama period was short, just 32 years, and was largely occupied with the wars between the daimyō , the leaders of the feudal Japanese clans. The new centers of power and culture in Japan were the fortified castles of

29410-406: Was the Zen garden, dry garden , or Japanese rock garden . One of the finest examples, and one of the best-known of all Japanese gardens is Ryōan-ji in Kyoto. This garden is just 9 metres (30 ft) wide and 24 metres (79 ft) long, composed of white sand carefully raked to suggest water, and fifteen rocks carefully arranged, like small islands. It is meant to be seen from a seated position on

29583-540: Was the first air attack on Tokyo , but inflicted little damage on the city. In June 1944, the USAAF's XX Bomber Command began a campaign against Japan using B-29 Superfortress bombers flying from airfields in China . Tokyo was beyond the range of Superfortresses operating from China, and was not attacked. This changed in October 1944, when the B-29s of the XXI Bomber Command began moving into airfields in

29756-410: Was the largest of any single air raid of the whole World War II, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , when each raid is considered by itself. The casualties and damage caused by the raid and absenteeism by workers in Tokyo considerably disrupted the Japanese war economy. LeMay and Arnold considered the operation to have been a significant success on the basis of reports made by

29929-407: Was used for religious ceremonies and dances for the welcoming of the gods. The layout of the garden itself was strictly determined according to the principles of traditional Chinese geomancy , or Feng Shui . The first known book on the art of the Japanese garden, the Sakuteiki ( Records of Garden Keeping ), written in the 11th century, said: It is a good omen to make the stream arrive from

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