Fire at Taiyo Department Store, Kumamoto

On November 29, 1973, just after 1:00 p.m., a fire broke out near the stairs from the second floor to the third floor of the Taiyo Department Store in Shimodori-machi 1-chome, Kumamoto City. The fire spread quickly, enveloping the third floor and above in black smoke and almost completely destroying the interior of the third through eighth floors. At the time of the fire, there were 2,000 shoppers and 500 store employees in the building. Most of them escaped, but many others lost their way due to the power outage and died of suffocation caused by carbon monoxide and toxic gases generated by the burning merchandise and interior, or were injured by jumping off the building. It was the largest department store fire in Japan's history. The fire was the largest in the history of department stores in Japan, killing 104 customers and injuring 67 people.