The target was said to have been a residential area where many Yawata Steel Works employees and their families lived, and the area that is now Edamitsu, Chuo, Ogura, and Maeda in the same ward was reduced to ashes. According to the “Yawata City History Sequel” and “Kitakyushu City History” published by the former Yawata City, there were approximately 2,500 casualties, 52,562 people affected, and approximately 14,000 homes affected. According to the “Japanese Urban War Damage Map” (edited by the First Ministry of Demobilization), the number of deaths was 1,785. (From Nishinippon Shimbun Word Box)

Left: Yahata Air Raid on August 8th
Center: Yahata city area after the air raid (the white part is burnt fields)
Right: An incendiary bomb dropped on the premises of the Yahata Steel Works (September 14, 1945)

<Secret> Target Information Sheet
From the U.S. military document Air Raid on Kitakyushu (Yoshishige Okuzumi and Yoichi Kudo)
I don’t have the original in English. This is translated from Japanese translated material.

Do not bring it on board when flying out.
Target: Yahata City Industrial Area
Target area: 90.34-Shimonoseki

summary:
One of Japan’s four urban industrial concentration zones, the Yahata region stretches south and west of the Shimonoseki Strait, forming a narrow border along the coast of Kitakyushu. The zone is a complex of five industrial cities and is home to one of the largest steelworks in Japan; an important chemical plant associated with the Copper Refinery’s coal carbonization facility; It includes a massively developed thermal power plant; one of Japan’s most important arsenals; and an active railroad and shipping facility.

Importance:
The Yahata area was once considered one of the most important industrial centers on the Japanese mainland, and has been called “Japan’s Pittsburgh” and “Japan’s Little Rule.” It is the center of Japan’s steel production, supplying large quantities of pig iron, steel ingots, and rolled steel products to surrounding areas. The large-scale development of heavy and chemical industries was important to Japan’s military industry because byproducts of coke and coal processing plants sustained agricultural production.

Strategically located near the Shimonoseki Strait and the largest shipping center in the Far East, the Yahata region has well-developed ports and railway facilities. The Kanmon Tunnel, which goes under the strait, connects Honshu and northern Kyushu. The Yahata area is close to the Chikuho coalfield, and 20 million tons of coal are transported each year, making heavy use of the Kitakyushu railway network. The Yahata region produces its electricity through thermal power plants and contributes to the Kitakyushu power grid.

The total population of this region is approximately 650,000. Destroying the residences attached to this vast industrial complex with incendiary bombs would surely cause considerable absenteeism and social disorder. A substantial loss of production in Japanese steel would damage numerous associated factories in other cities and the rest of the empire. Eliminating an important thermal power plant would effectively halt all production in the region. Blocking Kitakyushu’s transportation lines would halt the flow of finished products, semi-finished products, and by-products. Damage to important railway repair shops would severely strain the already overburdened land transport network and could impede troop transport and supplies if operations were to take place in Kyushu. Probably. Damage to the important arsenal at Kokura would cut off Kyushu’s most readily available source of arms and ammunition. Destroying or damaging the port facilities and associated skiff shipyards would thwart Japanese efforts to increase the use of shipping and ease land transportation. Some of the equipment for loading and boxing coal and cargo is susceptible to damage and may not be replaced.

The numbered objectives within Urban Area Objective 3630 are:

168-Kokura Arsenal
184-Kokura Railway Factory
2173-Higashi Kokura Railway Yard
1127-Kokura Thermal Power Station No.1
188-Kokura Thermal Power Plant No.2
165-Kokura Steel Works
1856-Kyushu Special Steel Company (Kokura)
28-Nippon Steel (Yawata)
28A-Nippon Steel Thermal Power Plant
28B-Nippon Steel Thermal Power Plant
569-Kyushu Chemical Industry (Yawata)
567-Asahi Glass Subsidiary (Yawata)
1851-Nippon Gosei Kogyo (Yawata)
2169-Yawata Railway Operation Depot
1108-Japan Aluminum Company (Kurosaki)
1113-Nippon Gosei Kogyo (Kurosaki)
1126-Yaskawa Electric Company (Kurosaki)
1866-Kokura Port Facilities
1860-Toyo Special Casting Company (Kokura)
177-Osaka Soda Company
1857-OKUMA Iron Factory
1859-Tokyo Steel Cable Manufacturing Company (Kokura)
2170-Tobata Railway Yard
33-Tobata Port Facilities
29-Nippon Steel Tobata Branch Factory
1594-Tobata Thermal Power Plant
1853-Tokyo Can Company (Tobata)
1852-Hitachi Machinery Works (Tobata)
2171-Wakamatsu Railway Yard
561-Wakamatsu Railway Factory
1672-Wakamatsu Shipyard
558-Tochigi Shipyard
32-Wakamatsu Port
1123-Japan Liquid Fuel Company (Wakamatsu)
1864-Tokai Steel Manufacturing Company (Wakamatsu)
555-Tokai Steel Manufacturing Company (Wakamatsu)
1861-Hitachi Machinery Works (Wakamatsu)

XXI Bomber Group, A-2 Target Team
June 20, 1845