Origins[edit]

The balloon campaign was the fourth attack the Japanese had made on the American
mainland. The fsen bakudan campaign was, however, the most earnest of the attacks.
The concept was the brainchild of the Imperial Japanese Army's Ninth Army's Number Nine
Research Laboratory, under Major General Sueyoshi Kusaba, with work performed by
Technical Major Teiji Takada and his colleagues. The balloons were intended to make use of
a strong current of winter air that the Japanese had discovered flowing at high altitude and
speed over their country, which later became known as the jet stream.[6]
The jet stream reported by Wasaburo Oishi[7] blew at altitudes above 9.15 km (30,000 ft)
and could carry a large balloon across the Pacific in three days, over a distance of more
than 8,000 kilometers (5,000 mi). Such balloons could carry incendiary and high-explosive
bombs to the United States and drop them there to kill people, destroy buildings, and
start forest fires.[6]
The preparations were lengthy because the technological problems were acute. A
hydrogen balloon expands when warmed by the sunlight, and rises; then it contracts when
cooled at night, and falls. The engineers devised a control system driven by an altimeter to
discard ballast. When the balloon descended below 9 km (30,000 ft), it electrically fired a
charge to cut loose sandbags. The sandbags were carried on a cast-aluminium four-spoked
wheel and discarded two at a time to keep the wheel balanced.[6]
Similarly, when the balloon rose above about 11.6 km (38,000 ft), the altimeter activated a
valve to vent hydrogen. The hydrogen was also vented if the balloon's pressure reached a
critical level.[6]
The control system ran the balloon through three days of flight. At that time, it was likely
over the U.S., and its ballast was expended. The final flash of gunpowder released the
bombs, also carried on the wheel, and lit a 19.5 meters (64 feet) long fuse that hung from
the balloon's equator. After 84 minutes, the fuse fired a flash bomb that destroyed the
balloon.[6]
The balloon had to carry about 454 kilograms (1,001 lb) of gear. At first the balloons were
made of conventional rubberized silk, but improved envelopes had less leakage. An order
went out for ten thousand balloons made of "washi", a paper derived
from mulberry bushes that was impermeable and very tough. It was only available in
squares about the size of a road map, so it was glued together in three or four laminations
using edible konnyaku (devil's tongue) paste. Hungry workers stole the paste and ate it.
Many workers were nimble-fingered teenaged school girls.[8] They assembled the paper in
many parts of Japan. Large indoor spaces, such as sumo halls, sound stages, and theatres,
were required for the envelope assembly.[6]
The bombs most commonly carried by the balloons were: [9]

Type 92 15-kilogram (33 lb) high-explosive bomb consisting of 9.5 pounds (4.3 kg) picric
acid or TNT surrounded by 26 steel rings within a steel casing 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter
and 14.5 inches (37 cm) long and welded to a 11-inch (28 cm) tail fin assembly.
Type 97 12-kilogram (26 lb) thermite incendiary bomb using the Type 92 bomb casing and
fin assembly containing 11 ounces (310 g) of gunpowder and three 1.5-kilogram
(3.3 lb) magnesium containers of thermite.
5-kilogram (11 lb) thermite incendiary bomb consisting of a 3.75-inch (9.5 cm) steel tube
15.75 inches (40.0 cm) long containing thermite with an ignition charge of
magnesium, potassium nitrate and barium peroxide.
The Japanese Imperial Army NOBORITO institute cultivated anthrax and Pasteurella pestis,
furthermore, it produced 20 tons of cowpox viruses which is quantity to be equivalent to
the whole area of the United States. The plan of deployment of these biological weapon on
Fire balloons was planned in 1944.[10] The Emperor Hirohito did not admit deployment of

biological weapon on the occasion of a report of President Staff Officer Umezu on October
25, 1944. Consequently, the biological warfare was not realized.[11]
Similar, but cruder, balloons were also used by Britain to attack Germany between 1942
and 1944.