about
Jon Mitchell is a Welsh-born writer - based in Yokohama - represented by Curtis Brown Ltd., New York. He lectures at Tokyo Institute of Technology and is an Asia-Pacific Journal associate.
In 2011, his research into the American military's use of Agent Orange on Okinawa during the Vietnam War prompted Japan's government to announce that it would seek full disclosure from Washington on the issue. His articles on the topic have been widely reported by the Japanese and American media.
On 15 May 2012, Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting aired an hour-long documentary based upon Jon's research called 枯れ葉剤を浴びた島 - Defoliated Island.
TV-Asahi will also feature his work in The Scoop Special, a 90-minute program on 20 May 2012.
In 2011, his research into the American military's use of Agent Orange on Okinawa during the Vietnam War prompted Japan's government to announce that it would seek full disclosure from Washington on the issue. His articles on the topic have been widely reported by the Japanese and American media.
On 15 May 2012, Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting aired an hour-long documentary based upon Jon's research called 枯れ葉剤を浴びた島 - Defoliated Island.
TV-Asahi will also feature his work in The Scoop Special, a 90-minute program on 20 May 2012.
Between 1998 and 2002, Jon contributed regular prose to Poetry Wales on Japanese subculture, while also penning short, real-time verse for the magazine which critics dubbed "gonzo-esque tanka."
In 2007, after winning the American Accolades Screenwriting Contest, he wrote movie projects for studios in Japan and the Film Agency for Wales. On the other side of the camera, he acted alongside an a-list Japanese cast in the award-winning, anti-war film, Best Wishes for Tomorrow.
Since 2008, Jon has written extensively on Okinawan social issues - including the plight of working poor on the island, the history of the human rights movement and the 1970 Koza Riot, Okinawa's largest outpouring of anti-military sentiment.
After experiencing the March 2011 earthquake, Jon traveled to Tohoku to report on relief operations. The magnitude-9 tremor also seems to have scared the poetic muse back into him. In July, 2011, his poetry booklet, march and after, was published (reviews here and here) - leading one British paper to dub him the "Bard of a Broken Country"
