Memorial Event Held on Eve of 81st Tokyo Air Raid Anniv.

Tokyo, March 9 (Jiji Press)–A memorial service for the victims of the massive U.S. air raid in Tokyo during World War II, which is said to have killed about 100,000 people overnight, was held in Tokyo on Monday, a day before the 81st anniversary of the incident. The event was held by relatives of Kayoko Ebina, who had previously hosted it. Ebina, a war orphan, died at the age of 92 in December last year. The relatives included Hayashiya Shozo IX and Hayashiya Sanpei II, the 63-year-old and 55-year-old sons of Ebina, respectively, who are both rakugo storytellers. During the service, about 150 attendees offered prayers in front of a memorial monument at Kaneiji, a Buddhist temple in Tokyo’s Taito Ward. “This is the first gathering since my mother passed away,” Shozo said. “I’ll continue to pass on the baton of our wish for peace.” He plans to continue the memorial service with his family and fellow rakugo storytellers. Ebina, who lost six family members, including her parents, in the air raid, began holding the annual service in 2005. Last year, she attended the event in a wheelchair. On Sunday, the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage organized a related event in Koto Ward, where Sanpei performed a war-themed rakugo story created by his grandfather, Hayashiya Shozo VII, in 1941. As the number of people who experienced the war is decreasing, Sanpei said that now is the time for everyone to think about war. “I will do my best as a second-generation storyteller,” he added. Tomie Himori, 94, shared her experience of surviving the air raid by holding onto a raft in the river. “I want people who don’t know about the war to listen,” she said. “Once a war has started, it is difficult to stop.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]