A memorial service, attended by Crown Prince Akishino, was held in Tokyo on Monday to mourn the estimated 100,000 victims of the U.S. military's air raid on the capital 80 years ago.
The ceremony took place at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Memorial Hall in Sumida Ward, attended by bereaved families and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, as well as the crown prince and Crown Princess Kiko.
"My father, who was kind and committed to our education, died after staying in Tokyo to protect his rice shop," said Reiko Sato, 93, who survived the raid as she had left Tokyo a few hours before.
"We should never repeat the war," said Sato, who also lost her siblings in World War II.
An 88-year-old woman who lost her father and siblings in the raid said that their bodies and bones have not been found.
"All I can do is think of them every year at this place," she said.
On March 10, 1945, about 300 U.S. B-29 bombers dropped numerous bombs on Tokyo. It is estimated over 1 million people were displaced by the attack.
The Memorial Hall stores the ashes of about 105,000 people who died in Tokyo in the war.
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