The bombing of Yokkaichi (四日市空襲, Yokkaichi kūshū) on June 18, 1945, was part of the strategic bombing campaign waged by the United States against military and civilian targets and population centers during the Japan home islands campaign in the closing stages of the Pacific War in 1945.
[1] Although the city of Yokkaichi was not a major regional industrial and commercial center when compared with nearby Nagoya, it had port facilities of military significance, as well as a major oil refinery complex operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The Kansai Main Line railway connecting Nagoya with Osaka also ran through the city.
A total of 89 B-29 Superfortress bombers of the United States Army Air Force’s 313rd Bombardment Wing targeted the center of the city with a major firebombing attack rather than its military and industrial zones on the outskirts.
[3] A total of 11,272 incendiary bombs were dropped (567.3 tons), killing 736 civilians, wounding 1500 others, with 63 persons missing and 47,153 people left homeless.