The city of Kamaishi in Iwate Prefecture is said to have been the first place on Japan's main island of Honshu to suffer a naval bombardment by the Allied powers during World War II.
More than 5,000 shells were fired into the northeastern Japan city, which had a large iron mill, on July 17 and Aug. 9, 1945, killing a total of 782 people, mostly civilians.
As the bombardments lasted about two hours on both days, Mutsuko Sano, 94, clearly heard the earth rumbling at a school for girls about 30 kilometers away.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.