Hamamatsu Information Book

Overview

Hostile aircrafts first appeared above Hamamatsu during WWII in November 1944. The city had recently been damaged by the Tonakai Earthquake on December 7 when it suffered the first air raid on 23rd. Sato-cho was firebombed.

The attacks grew in 1945. The eastern industrial district near by the Makome River (Uematsu, Kamitachi, Tenjin) was bombed in January, and the southern industrial district (Sunayama, Terajima, Ebitsuka) was bombed in February.

The target was shifted to the central part of the city in June. The Hamamatsu Station was burned down on around 10th. Asahi, Nakazawa, Motohama, and Sunayama were also damaged. The fire started in Kamoe, Sakae, and Toshimachi at 11:50 in the evening of 17th and spread throughout the city, lasting till the dawn of the next day. Volunteer Corps, or Giyu-tai, from the regions nearby (Hamana, Inasa, Iwata) helped by providing meals, cleaning rubble, and recovering bodies.

Furthermore, the city suffered extensive damages from the naval gunfire from the Enshu-nada Sea begining at 9:45 PM on July 29. The damages were especially devastating to Mikatahara, where a military base was located, to bridges on the Tenryu River, and to places which had anti-aircraft warfare bases (Nakano, Wada, Iida). The air raids finally ended after August 1.

The day after the broadcast of the Emperor Showa's speech of surrender on 15th, some soldiers at Mikatahara Air Field gathered on the mountain in Misakubo to strategize continued warfare. However, the movement disbanded in less than a week. 

Data

• Caution Alert: 340 times
• Air Raid Alert: 76 times
• Damaged Houses: 31,000 (88% of the total houses of 34,000)
• Affected Population: 120,000 (64% of the total population of 187,000)
• Death: 2,947
• Injured: 1,702

The population of Hamamatsu was 81,437 in June 18, 1945. It decreased to 69,298 in two months (September 8).

See Also

Hamamatsu Reconstruction Memorial Museum

Reference

"Hamamatsu-shi-shi" (The History of Hamamatsu).