After the war, the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS) conducted extensive interviews with a cross-section of Japanese at every level of society. The results led the USSBS analysts to conclude that aerial bombing was the “most important single factor” in undercutting the morale of the Japanese people. More than any other development—including military reverses overseas and the reduction in food rations at home—the appearance of enemy planes in Japanese skies prompted ordinary citizens to doubt their chances of victory, and to desire an early termination of the war.
