The bombing of Nagaoka (長岡空襲, Nagaoka kūshū) took place on the night of 1 August 1945, as part of the strategic bombing air raids on Japan campaign waged by the United States against military and civilian targets and population centers in the Japan home islands during the closing stages of the Pacific War in 1945.

[3] During the night of 27/28 July B-29s dropped leaflets on Nagaoka and ten other cities which stated that they would be subjected to attack, and that civilians should evacuate ahead of the raids.

Commencing at around 10:30 p.m. that night, 125 B-29 Superfortress bombers from the 313th Bombardment Wing struck the city with an estimated 163,000 incendiary bombs totaling 925 tons.

[6][1] The city suffered severe damage, though estimates of its extent vary: in 1953 the USAAF's official history stated that 65.5 percent of Nagaoka's urban area was destroyed, and this figure was also used by historian Richard B. Frank in 2001.

Called Heiwa-zo (Statue of Peace), it depicts a goddess with outstretched arms, a little girl with a ball, and a boy reading a book.