Basic information about war-damaged cities in Japan

Author: Junichi Hasegawa
Date: 2015/9/11
No: DPDP2015-009
JEL Classification codes: N9
Language: English
[ Abstract / Highlights ]
During World War II, air raids damaged many cities in Japan. After the war, in 1946, the Japanese government designated 115 cities as war-damaged cities, which would be reconstructed as official war-damage reconstruction projects based on land readjustment projects. War-damage reconstruction became an important challenge for the country’s post-war restoration, but its course of events and achievements has not been made sufficiently known to the public. By providing basic information about the designated war-damaged cities, such as area, population, the extent of the wartime destruction and the responsible public body (i.e. prefecture or municipality) for reconstruction projects, this study emphasises the diversified nature of these cities, their damage and the lines of approach in taking responsibility for their reconstruction.