March 11, 2025

A rally to mourn the victims of the 1945 Great Tokyo Air Raids took place in front of the memorial monument in Sumida Park in Taito Ward and in front of the cenotaph near Ueno Park in the same ward, respectively, on March 10.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kira Yoshiko took part in the Sumida Park rally, and JCP Secretariat Head Koike Akira attended the latter memorial service.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Great Tokyo Air Raids in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

JCP Kira said at the rally, “The air raids were a war crime in which non-combatants were slaughtered. The state government should face up to the damage inflicted on civilians during the war it started and should pay the survivors and bereaved families state compensation.” She expressed her determination, saying, “I will work even harder to make possible the establishment of a world without war and nuclear weapons.”

The annual ceremony was also held in front of the peace statue in Ueno Park in Taito Ward. Essayist Ebina Kayoko, 91, who lost six family members and was orphaned in the Great Tokyo Air Raids, said, “We must raise our voices, even if they are small, so that everyone in the world can live together in harmony.” Manga artist Chiba Tetsuya, 86, said, “Once a war breaks out, both perpetrators and victims will be victimized. So, we must never have a war.”