Editing Tokyo (section)

===1942–1945===
{{Main|Bombing of Tokyo}}
[[File:Tokyo 1945-3-10-1.jpg|thumb|A birds-eye view over the Ningyōchō district after the air raid of 10 March 1945]]
In 1943, [[Tokyo City]] merged with [[Tokyo Prefecture (1868–1943)|Tokyo Prefecture]] to form the '''Tokyo Metropolis''' (東京都, ''Tōkyō-to''). This reorganization aimed to create a more centralized and efficient administrative structure to better manage resources, urban planning, and civil defence during wartime.<ref>{{Cite web |title=東京都はいつからあるの？{{pipe}}公文書に見る戦時と戦後 －統治機構の変転－ |url=https://www.jacar.go.jp/glossary/tochikiko-henten/qa/qa29.html |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=www.jacar.go.jp}}</ref> The Tokyo Metropolitan Government thus became responsible for both prefectural and city functions while administering cities, towns, and villages in the suburban and rural areas.
Although Japan enjoyed significant success in the initial stages of the war and rapidly expanded its sphere of influence, the [[Doolittle Raid]] on 18 April 1942, marked the first direct foreign attack on Tokyo. Although the physical damage was minimal, the raid demonstrated the vulnerability of the Japanese mainland to air attacks and boosted American morale.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Doolittle Raid |url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196211/doolittle-raid/https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196211/doolittle-raid/ |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=National Museum of the United States Air Force |language=en-US}}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Large-scale Allied air bombing of cities in the Japanese home islands, including Tokyo, began in late 1944 when the US seized control of the [[Mariana Islands]]. From these islands, newly developed long-range [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29 bombers]] could conduct return journeys. The bombing of Tokyo in 1944 and 1945 is estimated to have killed between 75,000 and 200,000 civilians and left more than half of the city destroyed.<ref>{{cite book |title=Modern Japan: A Social and Political History |author=Tipton, Elise K. |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |page=141 |isbn=978-0-585-45322-4}}</ref>
The deadliest night of the war came on March 9–10, 1945, the night of the American "[[Operation Meetinghouse]]" raid.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2011/03/0309incendiary-bombs-kill-100000-tokyo/ |title=9 March 1945: Burning the Heart Out of the Enemy |date=March 9, 2011 |magazine=Wired   |access-date=August 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315063137/http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2011/03/0309incendiary-bombs-kill-100000-tokyo |archive-date=March 15, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nearly 700,000 incendiary bombs were dropped on the east end of the city ([[Yamanote and Shitamachi|shitamachi]], 下町), an area with a high concentration of factories and working-class houses. Two-fifths of the city was completely burned, more than 276,000 buildings were destroyed, 100,000 civilians were killed, and 110,000 more were injured.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0310-08.htm|title=1945 Tokyo Firebombing Left Legacy of Terror, Pain|work=Common Dreams|access-date=January 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103023353/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0310-08.htm|archive-date=January 3, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cybriwsky|first1=Roman|title=Historical Dictionary of Tokyo|date=1997|publisher=Scarecrow|location=Lanham, MD|page=22}}</ref> Numerous Edo and Meiji-era buildings of historical significance were destroyed, including the main building of the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace|Imperial Palace]], [[Sensō-ji]], [[Zōjō-ji]], [[Sengaku-ji]] and [[Kabuki-za]]. Between 1940 and 1945, the population of Tokyo dwindled from 6,700,000 to less than 2,800,000, as soldiers were sent to the front and children were evacuated.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hewitt|first1=Kenneth|title=Place Annihilation: Area Bombing and the Fate of Urban Places|journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers|date=1983|volume=73|issue=2|pages=257–284|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1983.tb01412.x|s2cid=140541502 | issn=0004-5608 }}</ref>