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 Jon Mitchell

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Jon Mitchell
Jon Mitchell writes about human rights issues on Okinawa. In 2015, he received the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan Freedom of the Press Award for Lifetime Achievement for his investigations into U.S. military contamination on Okinawa and other base-related problems.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Feb 24, 2016
NGO's Japanese founder foments organic revolution in Vietnam
Seed to Table helps locals rediscover lost agricultural wisdom and pull themselves out of poverty with duck and cow 'banks.'
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2016
Documents indicate chemical leaks at U.S. base have polluted Okinawa water supply
U.S. documents released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that lax safety standards at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa may be to blame for the recent contamination of local drinking water sources.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 13, 2016
As Okinawa confronts dioxin, Vietnam offers lessons
Health monitoring and safety measures are urged as U.S. military denials fly in the face of mounting evidence of contamination on the island.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2015
FOIA documents reveal hot spots, fish kills and toxic dumps on Okinawa military base
Following an 18-month battle, the Pentagon has released records detailing serious contamination on Okinawa base land slated soon for return to civilian use.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 16, 2015
Pentagon blocks report on 'toxic contamination' at base outside Okinawa capital
Excerpts cite buried chemicals and 'evidence of contamination by heavy metals and pesticides' at military site on prime real estate near Naha.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Aug 17, 2015
U.S. marine wins compensation for Okinawa toxin exposure and calls for tests on residents near Futenma
The U.S. government has awarded compensation to the ailing former marine at the center of allegations that Agent Orange was dumped on Futenma Air Base in Okinawa.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jul 8, 2015
Late marine's message lives on in Okinawa and Vietnam
U.S. Marine Allen Nelson first visited Okinawa in 1966 when the entire island was under American control and functioned as its springboard for the war in Vietnam. For two weeks, Nelson and his fellow new recruits spent their days practising guerilla warfare at Camp Hansen, central Okinawa, then in the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 31, 2015
Nago: What should the world learn from the Battle of Okinawa?
Jon Mitchell speaks to locals and visitors in Nago, the proposed site of a new base to replace the U.S. Marines' Futenma facility.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 30, 2015
The Battle of Okinawa: America's good war gone bad
Seventy years after the final epic clash of World War II, has the U.S. betrayed the ideals its service members died fighting for?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 23, 2015
U.S. Marines official dismissed over Okinawa protest video leak
The Pentagon has reportedly dismissed a senior U.S. Marine Corps official in Okinawa following the leak of on-base surveillance video to a Japanese neo-nationalist group.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Mar 7, 2015
Battle scars: Okinawa and the Vietnam War
On March 8, 1965, the first U.S. combat troops landed in Da Nang, South Vietnam. Their arrival significantly escalated American intervention in the war which, by its end a decade later, left more than 1 million dead and countless others suffering from the legacy of post-traumatic stress disorder, unexploded...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Feb 16, 2015
In appearance on far-right TV, U.S. official calls Okinawa base protests 'hate speech'
A senior official for the U.S. military has branded anti-base demonstrations in Okinawa as 'hate speech' in an appearance on a rightist TV network in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Feb 9, 2015
Injuries to Okinawa anti-base protesters 'laughable,' says U.S. military spokesman
In an email, a top marine official likens protesters hurt in demonstrations to diving soccer players.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 5, 2015
Think tank gives Japan-U.S. diplomacy an Okinawan voice
Shocked by indifference in Japanese and U.S. government circles toward the island's interests, a lawyer has taken matters into her own hands.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 23, 2014
Thousands march on Henoko base site
More than 3,500 demonstrators marched to U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on Saturday in the largest show of anger to date against the new American base being built off Henoko Bay to replace Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in crowded Ginowan further southwest.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 9, 2014
Okinawa: pocket of resistance
The battle over Henoko Bay looks set to challenge the power of the archipelago's protest movement.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 9, 2014
Monuments to peace reveal island's violent history
With its perpetual flame for peace and slabs of granite inscribed with the names of the more than 241,000 people who died on all sides during the Battle of Okinawa, the Okinawa Peace Memorial Park in Mabuni is the island's most famous monument — but also one of its most controversial. Critics argue...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2014
Agent Orange ingredients found at Okinawa military dumpsite
Rusting barrels unearthed on former U.S. military land in the city of Okinawa are confirmed as containing chemical precursors to the toxic defoliant Agent Orange.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 9, 2014
ASIJ announces investigation into sex abuse
An independent investigation will examine late teacher Jack Moyer's suspected sexual abuse of scores of female students and why American School in Japan officials apparently allowed his attacks to continue unabated despite students' warnings.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 12, 2014
After ASIJ admission that teacher abused kids, ex-students demand inquiry
Alumni from the American School in Japan are demanding an independent inquiry into whether school officials covered up knowledge of sexual abuse committed by teacher Jack Moyer.

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