TOKYO - In 1945, 79 years ago, the American military’s air raids on Japan's mainland intensified. Last year, footage of these air raids was discovered in Gunma Prefecture. The film captured what could be described as “the real scenes of air raids as seen by the Japanese people at the time.”
Numerous bombs dropping on the city. Indiscriminate machine-gun strafing. As the war reached its final stages, the air raids intensified. Until now, most of the air raid footage we have seen was filmed by the American military from above. At that time, airplanes flying over Japan were considered military secrets, and filming was not allowed.
However, last year, a valuable piece of footage shot from the Japanese side was discovered in Gunma Prefecture. The film contained images of an aircraft that the Navy had been secretly developing.
The Nakajima Aircraft Company in Gunma Prefecture was producing the 'Renzan,' a phantom attack aircraft. The footage was a record of its first flight, filmed by the Nakajima Aircraft photography team. The film ends after about six and a half minutes, but there is more.
The footage also included scenes from February 10, 1945, when 84 B-29 bombers attacked the Gunma area, in what is now known as the 'Ota Air Raid.' The film captured several small white specks moving from right to left across the black screen—these were the B-29s.
The 'Reality of Air Raids' as Seen from the Ground
Akira Motegi, 87, who experienced the air raids, recalled the scenes as he watched the footage.
"It looked just like this," Motegi said.
At that time, the B-29s were flying high above Ota City, appearing as "small white shadows" from the ground.
"The sound was like playing several keys on an organ at once—bang, bang, bang... It was terrifying when the B-29s came. But out of curiosity, I stuck my head out of the air-raid shelter, even though I got scolded," he recalled.
The reality seen by the people of Ota City was different from the images filmed from the sky. It was the sight of the sky from the ground.
The footage also shows a Japanese military aircraft attempting to intercept, and what appears to be a B-29 falling from the sky. The images also include people fleeing, wearing air-raid hoods, all moving in the same direction.
The Terror of Air Raids: 'We Fled for Our Lives'
Kazuo Nakaniwa, 95, who worked at Nakajima Aircraft at the time, said, "There was no room for error. We were fleeing for our lives."
"When I went home in the evening after the air raid, I saw people covered in blood, some already dead. I didn’t make a sound, but I was crying as I walked home. It was horrible," he said.
The first air raid on Ota City claimed the lives of over 160 people.
Why was the footage, which was supposed to be forbidden, shot in the first place? Professor Hironari Tsuchida, a modern Japanese history expert at Seishin University, speculates:
"I believe they filmed it with a sense of duty, thinking that this needed to be documented. They may have anticipated the air raid based on the air-raid warnings and prepared the cameras in advance."
Extending the 'Memory of War' with AI Technology
The recorded footage of “war memories” has regained attention in recent years.
Professor Hidenori Watanabe of the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School has been working on colorizing monochrome photographs.
“When we actually colorize them, it suddenly becomes easier to feel that the war took place in a landscape not so different from what we see in our daily lives,” Professor Watanabe said.
Professor Watanabe, who has colorized photos from the Battle of Okinawa and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was asked to colorize the newly discovered footage.
By adding colors with AI and reflecting information gathered from historical records and testimonies, the “clear blue sky” has been revived. This matches the American military’s records, which describe the sky on the day of the air raid as “clear.”
Seventy-nine years after the war, with the continuation of “war memory preservation” becoming an issue, Professor Watanabe believes that the use of the latest technology is key.
“New ways of reutilizing this material will emerge. It may be crucial to continually incorporate new methods to re-express these memories in ways that resonate with future generations. We can extend the lifespan of the memories embedded in these photos and videos with technology,” Professor Watanabe said.
Source: ANN
