A survivor of an air raid on the city of Akita the night before the end of World War II continues to recount her terrifying experience 80 years ago, expressing regret that the war did not end a day earlier.
Tsukiko Ito, 84, was 4 years old when Akita's Tsuchizaki district was battered by around 130 bombers from the United States and its allies for some four hours from around 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 14, 1945. The raid, in which more than 12,000 bombs were dropped, targeted Nippon Oil's Akita refinery, one of the largest such facilities on mainland Japan, killing at least an estimated 250 people.
She got out of her home when the bombings began, and saw the refinery in flames and the night sky lit up orange. Her family escaped to a bomb shelter near her home.
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