Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 (The Pacific War Trilogy Book 3)

by Ian W. Toll

JAPANESE CIVILIANS REGARDED the B-29s with curiosity, fascination, and even admiration. Whenever the tiny silver crosses appeared overhead, they crowded out into the streets, craning their necks and pointing to the sky. “We went through those early bombings in a spirit of excitement and suspense,” wrote a Tokyo journalist. “There was even a spirit of adventure, a sense of exultation in sharing the dangers of war even though bound to civilian existence.”10 Police and civil defense authorities shouted at the spectators, but many were too excited to retreat into their underground shelters. They wanted to see what was happening. With a touch of irony, perhaps, civilians spoke of the “honorable visitors” and referred to the Superfortress as “B-san” (“Mr. B”). A man in Tokyo watched a “splendid” formation of B-29s through his telescope, describing details of their design and operation to awestruck neighborhood children.