In Photos: Beheaded Jizo statues bear witness to last US air raid over Japan in WWII

Jizo statues beheaded during the Tsuchizaki air raid are seen at Unshoin temple in the city of Akita's Iijima district on July 11, 2021. All visible deities were decapitated but three of them were repaired after the war. (Satoshi Takahashi)=Clip/tap photo for more images.

Jizo statues beheaded during the Tsuchizaki air raid are seen at Unshoin temple in the city of Akita's Iijima district on July 11, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

A Jizo statue beheaded during the Tsuchizaki air raid is seen at Unshoin temple in the city of Akita's Iijima district on July 11, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

Jizo statues beheaded during the Tsuchizaki air raid are seen at Unshoin temple in the city of Akita's Iijima district on July 11, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

A gravestone disfigured during the Tsuchizaki air raid is seen at Unshoin temple in the city of Akita's Iijima district on July 11, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

A gravestone marred during the Tsuchizaki air raid is seen at Unshoin temple in the city of Akita's Iijima district on July 11, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

A gravestone marred during the Tsuchizaki air raid is seen at Unshoin temple in the city of Akita's Iijima district on July 11, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

The remains of a bomb dropped during the Tsuchizaki air raid are seen displayed at Tsuchizaki Minato Port Area Historical Museum in the city of Akita on July 11, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

A wall blistered by a fire at the then Nippon Oil refinery during the Tsuchizaki air raid is seen displayed at Tsuchizaki Minato Port Area Historical Museum in the city of Akita on July 11, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

The shirt that Kyuhei Iwama, a 6th-grade boy, was wearing when he was killed by a fragment of a bomb hitting his abdomen during the Tsuchizaki air raid is seen displayed at Tsuchizaki Minato Port Area Historical Museum in the city of Akita on July 11, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

Splinters of bombs dropped during the Tsuchizaki air raid are seen at Kikuo Ito and his wife Tsukiko's home in the city of Akita on July 11, 2021. Kikuo is the representative of an air raid survivors' group that gives testimonies of the experience. （Satoshi Takahashi)

Tsukiko Ito testifies about her Tsuchizaki air raid experience at a peace study workshop held at Tsuchizaki Minato Port Area Historical Museum in the city of Akita on Aug. 4, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

Kikuo Ito talks to participants of a peace study workshop held at Tsuchizaki Minato Port Area Historical Museum in the city of Akita on Aug. 4, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

Nine-year-old Shin Okamoto, who took part in a peace study workshop with his mother, observes the remains of a bomb dropped during the Tsuchizaki air raid displayed at Tsuchizaki Minato Port Area Historical Museum in the city of Akita on Aug. 4, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

Participants of a peace study workshop learn about the Tsuchizaki air raid at the Tsuchizaki Minato Port Area Historical Museum in the city of Akita on Aug. 4, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

A family photo taken just before a member leaves for the front as a soldier is seen displayed at the Tsuchizaki Minato Port Area Historical Museum in the city of Akita on Aug. 4, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

A statue of a young girl praying for peace that was erected to mourn those killed in the Tsuchizaki air raid area is seen in the city of Akita on Aug. 4, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

A monument of suffering installed to mourn the 12 children killed in the Tsuchizaki air raid is seen in the city of Akita on Aug. 4, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

A drawing on a monument installed to mourn those killed in the Tsuchizaki air raid is seen in the city of Akita on Aug. 4, 2021. (Satoshi Takahashi)

Characters meaning "renunciation of war" inscribed on a monument are spotlighted by sunbeams shining through foliage, in the city of Akita's Tsuchizaki district on Aug. 4, 2021. The monument was installed to aspire eternal peace. (Satoshi Takahashi)