Japan on Tuesday marked the 81st anniversary of the massive U.S. air raid on Tokyo during World War II that is believed to have killed about 100,000 people.
A memorial service for victims of the attack, which has been historically overshadowed by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was held overnight in the capital a day earlier.
The event was held by relatives of Kayoko Ebina, who had previously hosted it. Ebina, a war orphan, died at the age of 92 in December last year.
The relatives included Hayashiya Shozo IX and Hayashiya Sanpei II, the 63-year-old and 55-year-old sons of Ebina, respectively, who are both rakugo storytellers.
During the service, about 150 attendees offered prayers in front of a memorial monument at Kaneiji, a Buddhist temple in Tokyo＊s Taito Ward.
※This is the first gathering since my mother passed away,§ Hayashiya Shozo said. ※I＊ll continue to pass on the baton of our wish for peace.§
He plans to continue the memorial service with his family and fellow rakugo storytellers.
Ebina, who lost six family members, including her parents, in the air raid, began holding the annual service in 2005. Last year, she attended the event in a wheelchair.
On Sunday, the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage organized a related event in Tokyo＊s Koto Ward, where Hayashiya Sanpei performed a war-themed rakugo story created by his grandfather, Hayashiya Shozo VII, in 1941.
As the number of people who experienced the war is decreasing, Hayashiya Sanpei said that now is the time for everyone to think about war. ※I will do my best as a second-generation storyteller,§ he added.
Tomie Himori, 94, shared her experience of surviving the air raid by holding onto a raft in the river. ※I want people who don＊t know about the war to listen,§ she said. ※Once a war has started, it is difficult to stop.§
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