 During World War II, Kobe was bombed in the Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942, along with Tokyo and a few other cities.Eventually, it was bombed again with incendiary bombs by B-29 bombers on March 17, 1945, causing the death of 8,841 residents and destroying 21% of Kobe's urban area.This incident inspired the well-known Studio Ghibli film "Grave of the Fireflies" and the book by Akiyuki Nosaka on which the film was based.