Tokyo and Yokohama Districts

Prewar nautical chart of Tokyo Bay.

This detailed nautical chart covers the northern parts of Tokyo Bay and the heavily industrialized Keihin region. The cities of Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama comprised a significant portion of Japan’s military production capacity during the Second World War. As a result, it was heavily bombed by Allied aerial attacks, culminating with Operation Meetinghouse on March 9, 1945. Over 275 Boeing B-29s dropped nearly 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs across the eastern part of Tokyo, resulting in approximately 100,000 deaths, 1,000,000 homeless, and the utter devastation of more than a quarter of the city’s buildings.

The image notes depth soundings, navigational beacons, and coastal features. Railways, temples, and other land-based facilities are also identified. The chart was originally published in July, 1938 by the United States Navy Hydrographic Office. According to text in the lower left corner, this example was last updated with small corrections in October, 1944.

WorldCat notes only one example (3rd edition, corrected April 1942) at Stanford University Libraries. OCLC# 915507853.