Just after midnight on March 10, 1945, the US carried out a massive incendiary air attack on eastern Tokyo, unleashing a firestorm that devastated this densely urban area of wooden and paper houses. By sunrise, more than 100,000 people had been killed, and a quarter of the city wiped off the map—the most destructive air raid of any war in history. For years the survivors have campaigned for a public memorial and museum, and for some token compensation for the loss of their homes, loved ones and