Overview
- On Oct. 23, the imperial family visited Tokyo Metropolitan Memorial Hall in Sumida Ward to mourn victims of the 1945 air raids, including the March 10 firebombing often cited as killing about 100,000 people.
- They placed a white bouquet before the main hall and bowed deeply as a representative of bereaved families looked on.
- It was their first visit to the memorial, and they also spoke with four bereaved relatives at the site.
- Palace officials said the visit was intended to represent air-raid victims across Japan and to convey a message of peace.
- The ceremony closed an 80th-anniversary sequence that began at Iwo Jima in April and continued to Okinawa and Hiroshima in June and to Nagasaki in September, with Princess Aiko joining in Okinawa and Nagasaki.