Attacking northern Honshu would have the advantage of a much weaker defense but had the disadvantage of giving up land-based air support (except the B-29s) from Okinawa.
At angribe det nordlige Honshū ville have fordelen af et meget svagere forsvar, men havde den ulempe, at man derved opgav landbaseret luftstøtte (undtagen B-29'erne) fra Okinawa.