Library of Congress
約10万人が犠牲となった1945年3月10日の「東京大空襲」から、72年を迎えた。
コトバンクによると、東京への空襲は1944年11月に開始され、100回以上にわたって繰り返されていたが、いずれも日中に軍需工場を目標とするものだった。この日の空襲からアメリカ軍は、町工場と住宅地がひしめく市街地に爆撃を敢行。一般民衆への無差別爆撃で焼失家屋は27万戸に達し、下町一帯は焦土と化した。
この時、警視庁に所属していた故石川光陽氏は、東京大空襲の惨状を現場で撮影した。当時は一般人の写真の撮影は禁じられており、石川氏の写真は、当時の状況を伝える貴重な資料となった。
しかし、戦後、連合国軍最高司令官総司令部（GHQ）は、石川氏にネガの提出を求める。石川氏はこれを拒否し、ネガの代わりにプリントを提出することで追求を逃れる一方、ネガを自宅の庭に埋めて守り抜いた。
以下に、石川氏やアメリカ軍が撮影した東京大空襲のころの写真を紹介する。
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東京大空襲
日本橋(01 of23)
空襲直後、日本橋から両国方面を望む。上方を横に流れるのは隅田川 (credit:Library of Congress)
(02 of23)
(credit:Wikimedia)
(03 of23)
(credit:Wikimedia Koyo Ishikawa)
浅草・仲見世通り(04 of23)
The photo taken on March 19, 1945 shows survivors commute through destroyed Nakamise shopping street after Tokyo firebombing. Asakusa district in Tokyo. (AP Photo/The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
吾妻橋(05 of23)
The photo taken on March 19, 1945 shows an incendiary bomb-devastated Azuma Bridge after Tokyo firebombing. (AP Photo/The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, Eugene Hoshiko) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
浅草(06 of23)
空襲直後の浅草付近。右上は浅草寺で、右端に隅田川が流れる (credit:Library of Congress)
亀戸(07 of23)
The Photo taken on March 19, 1945 shows incendiary bomb-devastated area of Kameido district after Tokyo firebombing, seen from Kameido Tenjin Bridge.The B-29s flew much lower on March 10, in the dead of the night, dumping massive payloads of incendiary bombs on both residential areas and military targets. (AP Photo/The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
亀戸天神付近(08 of23)
(credit:Wikimedia)
隅田川(09 of23)
The photo taken on March 19, 1945 shows an incendiary bomb-devastated area and Sumida-gawa Bridge after Tokyo firebombing. (AP Photo/The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
吾妻橋から見た浅草・松屋(10 of23)
The photo taken on March 19, 1945 shows an incendiary bomb-devastated Matsuya Asakusa department store, seen from Azuma Bridge after Tokyo firebombing. (AP Photo/The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
浅草・神谷バーと松屋(11 of23)
The top photo taken on March 19, 1945 shows survivors commute near an incendiary bombed Kamiya Bar, left, and Matsuya Asakusa department store, right after Tokyo firebombing. (AP Photo/The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, Eugene Hoshiko) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(12 of23)
(credit:Wikimedia)
(13 of23)
Tokyo residents who lost their homes as a result of the U.S. bombings. 10th March 1945. The Operation Meetinghouse air raid of 9-10 March 1945 was later estimated to be the single most destructive bombing raid in history. It was part of a series of firebombing raids, conducted by the United States Army Air Forces during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. Photo: Kouyou Ishikawa, officer of the Metropolitan Police Department. Tokyo, Japan. (Photo By Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images) (credit:Galerie Bilderwelt via Getty Images)
皇居周辺(14 of23)
1945 World War II Tokyo Bombing and Emperor\'s Palace. Fire raids hit Tokyo and some buildings on the Emperor\'s Palace Grounds. (Photo by Iconic Archive/Getty Images) (credit:Iconic Archive via Getty Images)
(15 of23)
(credit:Wikimedia)
空中写真（皇居周辺）(16 of23)
In this photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, plumes of smoke, rising 15,000 feet in the air several hours after Tokyo was hit by a force of more than 300 Marianas-based Superfortresses of the 21st Bomber Command, March 10, 1945, show the effect of the heavy bombing which burned out huge areas near the Imperial Palace (right, center). (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
皇居周辺(17 of23)
1945 World War II Tokyo Bombing and Emperor\'s Palace. Fire raids hit Tokyo and some buildings on the Emperor\'s Palace Grounds. (Photo by Iconic Archive/Getty Images) (credit:Iconic Archive via Getty Images)
遠くに富士山(18 of23)
Smoke pours from the area, lower right, of Tokyo, following an attack by a force of more than 300 Marianas-based B-29s, March 10, 1945. The photo, made several hours after the bombing, shows the Imperial Palace in center, right, and in the distance is Mt. Fuji, sacred mountain of Japan. (AP Photo/Pool) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
空襲前・1945年2月23日(19 of23)
This is how American bombers attacking Japan, see the harbour of Tokyo. The picture was taken by a B-29 Superfortress over the Japanese capital, it shows factories shipping facilities and oil storage tanks in the war production centre surrounding Tokyo on Feb. 23, 1945. The railway bridge in the centre and ships at the dockside, left centre. (AP Photo) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(20 of23)
9th March 1945: An airfield near Tokyo where the Japanese airforce has been destroyed by the Allied aircraft bombing campaign. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) (credit:Hulton Archive via Getty Images)
(21 of23)
(credit:Wikimedia Koyo Ishikawa)
(22 of23)
(credit:Wikimedia Koyo Ishikawa)
(23 of23)
(credit:Wikimedia Koyo Ishikawa)
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