[aculeus]

But because 57 years ago this week a fleet of American B-29 bombers dropped 1,665 tons of napalm-filled bombs on Tokyo,

Napalm? It is my recollection that incendiary bombs were filled with magnesium.

Any experts care to comment?

[Bernard Marx]

It is my recollection that incendiary bombs were filled with magnesium.

I'm no expert but that's how I remember it too. The Japanese vulnerability to firebombing had to do with the flammable materials they used to build their homes. But a quick Google search revealed the following:

Q: What is the single most destructive air raid of the war? A: This was an attack on the capital city of Japan by B-29 bombers on the night of March 9/10, 1945. In three hours 279 bombers released 1660 tons of incendiaries, including large numbers of oil-based incendiary devices on Tokyo. The official Japanese count found 83,793 dead and 40,918 injured. A total of 267,171 buildings were destroyed leaving one million people homeless. 15.8 square miles of the city had been burned to the ground, including 18% of the industrial area, and 63% of the commercial center.

[Richard Kimball]

Also not an expert, but according to emedicine.com, napalm was developed in 1942 and dropped in 165 gallon containers, which could burn a 2500 square yard area. So it's certainly feasible that napalm could have been the agent.