LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA [JAPAnese: IŌJIMA KARA NO TEGAMI] 215
Course in Los Angeles. The battleship USS Te x a s (BB-35), now a museum ship sta-
tioned in La Porte, Texas, was used for close-up shots of the fleet for both movies.
Location filming wrapped on 8 April, and the cast and crew then headed back to
Warner Bros.’ Burbank Studios, where more interior scenes were shot on Stage 21.
At the very end of the shoot, Eastwood, Watanabe, and a smaller group of crew
members went to Iwo Jima for a single day to capture the on- location shots.
Plot Summary
In 2005, Japa nese archaeologists exploring tunnels on Iwo Jima find something in
the dirt. The scene shifts back 61 years, to Iwo Jima in 1944. Pfc. Saigo (Kazunari
Ninomiya) and his crew dig trenches on the beach. Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Tadamichi
Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) arrives to assume leadership and surveys the defenses
currently set up on the island [19 June 1944]. He saves Saigo and his friend Kashi-
wara (Takashi Yamaguchi) from a beating by Capt. Tanida (Takumi Bando) for
“unpatriotic speeches” and orders the men to start digging underground defenses
in Mount Suribachi. Kuribayashi and Lt. Col. Baron Takeichi Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara),
a famous Olympic gold medalist show jumper, clash with some of the other officers,
who do not agree with Kuribayashi’s defense- in- depth strategy. Kuribayashi posits
that the American troops will have an easier time breaking through the beach
defenses and suggests that the mountain strongholds stand a better chance of keep-
ing them out. Unclean water and malnutrition lead to multiple deaths by dysentery,
including the loss of Kashiwara (Takashi Yamaguchi). Kashiwara’s replacement,
Superior Private Shimizu (Ryô Kase), comes under suspicion of being a Kempeitai
(Military Police Corps) spy dispatched to identify and track disloyal troops. Not
long after Shimizu’s arrival, the Americans arrive, overwhelm the island, and
attack Mount Suribachi. Ordered to retreat by Kuribayashi, the commander of the
Suribachi garrison orders his soldiers to kill themselves rather than concede.
However, Saigo flees with Shimizu, and the two decide to battle on. They come
upon other soldiers and try to flee the mountain with Lt. Oiso under the cover of
darkness. Marines discover them and kill all except Saigo and Shimizu. The Japa-
nese counterattack, but suffer major casualties. The surviving soldiers go to meet
up with Col. Nishi while Ito leaves for the U.S. lines with a trio of landmines and
a plan to detonate them beneath an American tank. As the battle continues, Nishi
is rendered blind by shrapnel and calls on his men to retreat. Nishi then goes into
a cave and a gunshot is heard, signaling his suicide. Shimizu surrenders to the
Americans, but is then shot by the man guarding him. Meanwhile, a starving Ito
succumbs to despair; when found by U.S. Marines, he surrenders. Okubo is killed,
but Saigo re unites with Kuribayashi, who plans a final attack. That night, during
the attack, most of Kuribayashi’s men perish, and although Kuribayashi is badly
hurt, his aid, Fujita, carries him to safety. The following morning, to die with
honor, Kuribayashi commands his aid to behead him, but a Marine shoots Fujita
before he can proceed. Saigo, after burying some of the documents and letters that
he was ordered to burn, comes upon Kuribayashi and, after Kuribayashi commits
suicide, tearfully buries him. An American Marine discovers Kuribayashi’s gun
near Fujita’s body and tucks it into his belt. Saigo, recognizing the gun, flies into