In Studio Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies, Seita and Setsuko leave Kobe after the bombing.
The film is set largely in and around Kobe during the final months of the Second World War. After an air raid destroys their home and kills their mother, the siblings move to live with an aunt. Their worsening relationship with her leads them to take shelter in an abandoned bomb shelter.
Kobe’s wartime destruction is based on historical events, and the film presents the civilian consequences of incendiary bombing through the children’s experience. The story is adapted from Akiyuki Nosaka’s semi-autobiographical 1967 short story.
Kobe is often confused with Hiroshima because both cities are strongly associated with wartime destruction. Grave of the Fireflies specifically centers on the firebombing and aftermath in Kobe, not the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.