The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
The island of Iwo Jima stands between the American military force and the home islands of Japan. Therefore the Imperial Japanese Army is desperate to prevent it from falling into American hands and providing a launching point for an invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) is given command of the forces on the island and sets out to prepare for the imminent attack. General Kuribayashi, however, does not favor the rigid traditional approach recommended by his subordinates, and resentment and resistance fester amongst his staff. In the lower echelons, a young soldier, Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a poor baker in civilian life, strives with his friends to survive the harsh regime of the Japanese Army itself, all the while knowing that a fierce battle looms. When the American invasion begins, Kuribayashi and Saigo find strength, honor, courage, and horrors beyond imagination.—Jim Beaver <[email protected]>
In 2005, Japanese archaeologists explore tunnels on Iwo Jima, where they find some letters buried in the soil.The film flashes back to Iwo Jima in 1944. Private Saigo, a conscripted baker, is beaten by his commanding officer Captain Tanida, after complaining that they should just give the island to the Americans. Tanida is stopped by General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, who has arrived to take command of the garrison.
Kuribayashi is shocked to learn from Colonel Baron Takeichi Nishi, that the Japanese Combined Fleet, upon which the island had been depending for support, has been destroyed. The next day, Kuribayashi orders the garrison to begin tunneling defenses under the island. His subordinate officers protest at the lack of beach fortifications until he informs them of the fate of the Combined Fleet.
In February 1945, the first American air raids occur. A few days later, U.S. Marines land. Kuribayashi waits until the landing beach is filled with Marines and orders his men to open fire. The Marines suffer heavy casualties, but, as Kuribayashi predicted, the beach defenses are quickly overcome. The attack then turns to the tunnels below Mount Suribachi. While running a message to Colonel Adachi, Saigo overhears the Colonel pleading with Kuribayashi for permission to commit suicide. Kuribayashi refuses.
Ignoring the General's orders, Adachi orders his officers and men to kill themselves. At Tanida's order, the soldiers of his unit detonate hand grenades against their stomachs while Tanida shoots himself in the head. Saigo convinces Shimizu that they would better serve the Emperor by continuing to fight. They meet with other survivors of Mount Suribachi, one of whom is incinerated by a U.S. Marine with a flamethrower.
Saigo and Shimizu report to fanatical Navy Lieutenant Ito. Ito prepares to summarily execute them both with his Katana for abandoning Mount Suribachi, but Kuribayashi arrives and reprimands Ito for attempting to needlessly kill two soldiers and confirms that he gave the order to evacuate the mountain.
Ignoring orders from Kuribayashi, Ito plans to lead his men in a massed banzai charge against U.S. positions. Ito then straps land mines to himself and walks toward the battle zone, intending to throw himself under a tank.Saigo announces that he is going to surrender and dares Shimizu to arrest him. To his surprise, Shimizu tells him that he was dishonorably discharged from the Kempeitai after five days of service for disobeying his superior's order to kill a family's barking dog. Saigo is moved and the two become friends.
Nishi is then blinded by shrapnel when a shell hits the cave. By now, his men are out of shells and ammunition. He orders Lieutenant Okubo to lead his men to regroup with Kuribayashi. Left alone in the cave with his rifle, Nishi removes his boots to pull the rifle trigger with his toe and kills himself.Shimizu and Saigo plan to surrender together, with Saigo leaving first pretending to have dysentery.
Another soldier asks to join him, but they are discovered by Lieutenant Okubo, who shoots the other soldier. Shimizu escapes and surrenders to a marine patrol, meeting another Japanese POW. The American patrol moves on, leaving behind two Marines as guards. As Shimizu and his fellow POW discuss their plans for after the war, one of the Marines shoots them both to avoid having to stand watch over them. The two bodies are found by Lieutenant Okubo, who cites them as a lesson against surrender. Sobbing, Saigo wraps Shimizu's Senninbari over his corpse.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Ito, desperate and malnourished, breaks down and returns to the caves. When found by a Marine patrol, he surrenders without incident.Saigo and the rest of Okubo's patrol are forced to pass through a firefight while retreating to the north of the island; Okubo and several others are killed. The survivors rendezvous with General Kuribayashi, who is impressed that Saigo has come all the way from Mount Suribachi. Kuribayashi is amazed to learn that he has twice saved the Private's life, commenting that things always come in threes. After gathering the rest of his men, the General orders Saigo to stay behind and burn all documents and letters during the final attack rather than join the fighting, thus saving his life a third time. Saigo cannot bring himself to burn his comrades' letters to their families and buries them instead.
Attired as a common infantryman, Kuribayashi launches a final charge at the head of his surviving soldiers, telling them their countrymen will never forget them. Kuribayashi is seriously wounded when shrapnel is lodged in his legs. Fujita, the general's loyal adjutant, drags him away from the battle.
By the next morning, the Japanese forces have been overrun, and the Americans have taken the rest of the island. Beginning to succumb to his wounds, Kuribayashi orders Fujita to behead him. As a weeping Fujita raises his Katana, he is shot dead by a Marine sniper.
Private Saigo arrives and the dying General orders his last soldier to bury him where the enemy will never find his body. Then, Kuribayashi draws his M1911 pistol- a gift from an American officer friend before the war. He asks Saigo, "Is this still Japanese soil?" Saigo responds, "Yes, this is still Japan." The General fatally shoots himself and a weeping Saigo drags Kuribayashi's body away for burial.
Meanwhile, a Marine patrol find Fujita's body and the Katana. The leader of the patrol, a Marine Lieutenant finds Kuribayashi's pistol and tucks it in his belt as a trophy. They search the area and find Saigo with his shovel. Seeing Kuribayashi's pistol in possession of the enemy, an enraged Saigo begins swinging his shovel at the Marines but is too weak to fight. The Lieutenant orders his men not to shoot him. Instead, he knocks Saigo out with a rifle butt and has him sent by stretcher to the POW camp. Awakening, Saigo glimpses the sun setting over the black sands of the beach and smiles grimly.
The film ends with the Japanese archaeologists finding the letters that Saigo had buried.
