A colleague just related something that he saw on a documentary last night: During WWII, Sumoto was number 173 on a list of 180 Japanese targets to be carpet bombed by the US. Apparently, they got down to number 66 on the list (probably somewhere in Fukui prefecture) before bombing with conventional munitions was made unnecessary by Fat Man and Little Boy.
It took me a while to figure out what could possibly be of military significance on this island (Awajishima) until I remembered that there was a railroad back then (the Nankai “Shima Densha”) which might seem useless since there were no bridges to the mainland yet, but when coupled with the numerous deep water ports on the island might have seemed like a significant supply point.
Also, there were big bore gun emplacements that might have threatened the passage of ships through the Naruto Straits – I have to go hiking to that site soon to see if anything remains.
Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
hey. i didn’t know anything about the target list, but i heard that there used to be a ww11 airbase or pilot training center or something along those lines in yura. also heard that yura chicks are famed for their beauty since their relatives were said to be hotties sent to yura to ‘support’ the above mentioned pilots. funny..i never considered yura chicks to be hot. i went biking up there a couple of days ago. nothing but fishing boats…not even a lawson. anyways, something i heard. catch you later.