An annual event in Tokyo to read out the names of those who perished in the bombings of the capital during World War II included U.S. prisoners of war who also were killed for the first time.

During the commemoration held in Tokyo’s Koto Ward on March 9, around 40 attendees, including those who lost family members, read out the names of around 2,000 victims at the venue or online.

Most of the 2,000 victims are those whose families agreed to their names being read out at the service. 

The event at the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage was launched in 2021 with the aim of remembering each victim of the bombings. This year marked the third commemoration.

One of the attendees, an American man who researched the final days of one of the U.S. POWs killed, read out their names online.

Burton Blume, 72, started reading out the names of the dead American service members at his home in Chiba Prefecture’s Sakura.

One of the POWs was Ralph Chapel, who was a relative of a senior officer of the U.S. unit that Blume’s father belonged to during World War II.

Blume came to Japan 44 years ago and has worked for employers including an advertising agency.

In May 2021, he learned that Chapel died in a U.S. air raid on Tokyo through a social media post by his family member.

Blume thought that if he uncovered details about what Chapel went through before being killed in the bombing, that might help console his surviving family members.

Then he learned online about the activities of the POW Research Network, a civilian organization. 

The organization has researched World War II POWs since 2002.

With the organization’s assistance, Blume read documents held by the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ). 

He found that a B-29 bomber that Chapel was aboard was shot down by Japanese forces and fell to a location near Blume’s home in Chiba Prefecture’s Sakura.

Blume visited the site and wrote about it in an article in the organization’s newsletter.

According to the organization and Blume’s research, the B-29 was shot down in April 1945 on its way to conduct an air raid.

Chapel was captured by the Japanese military police corps and imprisoned as a POW at the Tokyo Army Prison in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward.

Other American air crew members, along with Chapel, were incarcerated at the prison after their aircraft were downed on their way to various targets across Japan.

In the U.S. air raid in Tokyo in May 1945, the prison was burnt by a bomb dropped by a B-29. All 62 POWs at the prison including Chapel were killed.

This year, families of Japanese victims of the bombings of Tokyo learned about Blume and asked him to read out the names of the American victims at the event.

Blume wasn’t sure what to feel until the day of the event because he thought that some Japanese who lost their families in the U.S. bombings might disapprove.

Setsuko Kawai, 83, who acted as chair of the executive committee of the event, lost her mother and two younger brothers in a bombing of Tokyo.

She said after the event, “We could mourn the lives lost in the war, regardless of whether they were enemies or allies. I am thankful.”

When Blume learned of her comment, he felt relieved and said, “Very good. I want to pass on the facts and our prayers to the next generation.”

In the series of bombings of Tokyo by U.S. forces during World War II, the air raid on March 10, 1945, was particularly destructive and claimed around 100,000 lives in just a single night.

On March 10, the 78th anniversary of the attack on the capital, a Buddhist memorial service was held to mourn the dead at the metropolitan memorial hall in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward.

Around 100 people prayed for the victims at the ceremony, as attendance by the public was partially allowed for the first time in four years after the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Around 300 B-29s dropped incendiary bombs in the eastern part of Tokyo in the early hours of March 10, 1945.

They inflicted catastrophic damage on areas including what are now Koto, Sumida, and Taito wards.

Akira Saito, 60, prayed at the ceremony as a representative of the bereaved families.

He lost four relatives including his grandparents on his father’s side.

“I prayed, imagining how regretful my grandparents were and succeeding my late father’s wish,” Saito said. “I hope that the invasion of Ukraine, which is making civilians suffer in the same way (as World War II), will end as soon as possible.”