this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2024
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Japan had a lot more wood-only city buildings back then compared to the colder climate in Europe, where more massive stone architecture was common. In Europe, cellars are also common/default, unlike in Japan.
During high heat firestorms, most of the wooden material burns up and the ash gets carried away. The photo definitely shows cleanup and very likely was not taken the day after the bombing, but a single firestorm definitely can produce these results, much like other examples in Cologne, Hamburg, Dresden, Würzburg,... Except those had much more stone rubble standing afterwards.
Wood, and worse, paper. The US made mock-ups of civilian Japanese buildings when we were testing napalm for use in the terror firebombings of 1945. It was... very effective against the mock-ups.