The Roppongi district of Tokyo has been through a turbulent time in the 60 years since it was destroyed by firebombing during World War II.

"Kanreki," the observance of a 60th birthday, is an important event in Japan, being the completion of the Chinese calendar's six decade cycle. And Roppongi has had a harder cycle than most.

Japanese novelist Kafu Nagai (1879-1959) described the firebombing of Roppongi, where he lived, by American B-29 bombers in the early hours of March 10, 1945.