Japanese advantages
- The Japanese had the element of surprise of the Americans. They lay waiting in tunnels, caves, and deep bomb shelters.
- Their artillery was strategically placed in rock and concrete on Mt. Suribachi.
- Highly Fortified
japanese Disadvantages
- Severely outnumbered, the Americans had 70,000 troops and the Japanese only had 22,060
American Advantages
- The Americans greatly outnumbered the Japanese 70,000 to 22,060
American disadvantages
- The Americans didn't know the land of Iwo Jima
- The Japanese had the element of surprise
- Iwo Jima was a highly fortified defensive base