article_snippet: It was one of the deadliest attacks during World War Two leaving more than 100,000 people dead and destroying large parts of Tokyo but is often forgotten from history.
article_snippet: On March 10, 1945, U.S. B-29 bombers flew over Tokyo in the dead of night, dumping massive payloads of cluster bombs.
article_snippet: U.S. B-29 bombers left a fifth of Tokyo smouldering under an expanse of charred bodies and rubble.
article_snippet: The bombs on the single night 70 years ago destroyed a fifth of Tokyo including homes and infrastructure as well as the Sumida-gawa bridge, pictured .
article_snippet: Where earlier raids targeted aircraft factories and military facilities, the Tokyo firebombing was aimed largely at civilians, in places including Tokyo's downtown Shitamachi area, where people lived in traditional wood and paper homes at densities sometimes exceeding 100,000 people per square mile.
article_snippet: Haruyo Nihei, was just eight when the bombs fell and was among many survivors who kept silent about that night until recently.
article_snippet: The destruction in the area around the Azuma Bridge after the Tokyo firebombing.
article_snippet: Exactly 70 years ago on March 9, 1945, American warplanes launched a huge firebomb campaign against Japan by dropping 2,000 tonnes of explosives over Tokyo.
article_snippet: the bombing campaign began early on March 9, when U.S. Air Force crews met on islands off the coast of Japan for a military briefing.
article_snippet: The plan was to attack Tokyo at a low level that evening using aircraft that were stripped of all of their guns.
article_snippet: The firebombing was aimed largely at civilians, in places including Tokyo's downtown Shitamachi area, where people lived in traditional wood and paper homes at densities sometimes exceeding 100,000 people per square mile.
highlights_snippet: Exactly 70 years ago, more than 100,000 people were killed in a Tokyo air strike during the Second World War .
  
highlights_snippet: Came as U.S. bombers dumped cluster bombs and destroyed a fifth of the Japanese capital in just one night .
  
highlights_snippet: The attack was more deadly than Nagasaki but received little attention as Tokyo rebuilt Tokyo quickly after the Second World War .
  