Why was the battle of Iwo Jima and Okinawa so difficult?

Answer 1

Two islands under direct Japanese Empire before WWI & WWII. Many Japanese considered them part of the Japanese Homeland. A BLOODBATH because they were heavily manned and fortified. Quite a number of Japanese civilians committed SUPACU(sic) or suicide by any means, thinking the American troupes would commit atrocities.

Answer 2

Because the Japanese were total in their defence. Simply they would not surrender, it was a disgrace to do so. In some instances the death toll of the Japanese defenders was very close to 100%.

Answer 3

It wasn't. Okinawa was. Okinawa was, and is, considered to be a part of the Tokyo Prefecture, even though the island of Okinawa is hundreds of miles from the southernmost point of the Home Islands. Iwo Jima and the Bonin Islands were also considered part of the "homeland" though they were even farther away from the Home Islands. These were the only two battle fought on "Japanese soil" during the war, unless you count the Soviet occupation of Sakhalin Island in the week following the atomic attacks. Okinawa is much larger than Iwo Jima, and was the only battleground in the Pacific outside the Philippines large enough that the US was able to find room to deploy an entire field army. Iwo Jima was a fierce and brutal campaign involving three divisions of US Marines and around 20,000 Japanese "Special Naval Landing Troops" - basically Japanese Marines. On Okinawa there were tens of thousands more Japanese defenders, and the island was close enough to the Home Islands that for the fist time waves of Kamikaze suicide aircraft were able to fly on the one-way trip to the battle. Okinawa was the prewar site of the Japanese artillery school, and the Japanese cannoneers had every inch registered. The other three divisions of Marines in the Pacific were on Okinawa, along with four US Army divisions. There were places on Okinawa, such as Sugar Loaf Hill, where the life expectancy of American riflemen could be measured in seconds.

Answer 4

Kamikaze tactics and their willingness to fight.