Onlies For Lonelies

『沈黙の春を生きて』＠桜坂劇場１月３１日（火）

2012-01-28T10:09:00.001+09:00

ジョン・ミッチェルさんのトーク・ショーが、桜坂劇場での『沈黙の春を生きて』（映画については下にある案内をご覧ください）の上映にあわせて、行われます。ジョンさんの来沖と映画の上映がちょうど重なったとのことで、大変幸運な偶然だと思います。11月に辺野古の集会でお話したこと以降にご自身が取り組んできたことの最新の情報をお話してくださるとのことです。たくさんの方が集まってくださり、枯れ葉剤の問題への沖縄での関心が高まる機会となるように願っています。この案内をどうぞ拡げてください。よろしくお願いします。桜坂劇場の案内はこちらにあります↓http://www.sakura-zaka.com/movie/1201/1201_chinmoku.html【日時】1月31日(火)13:30の回終了後 (15:00頃より15分程度)1/31(火)の映画『沈黙の春を生きて』13:30の回の上映終了後、

Agent Orange on Okinawa - January 31st Talk

2012-01-25T10:51:00.001+09:00

On Tuesday 31st January at 1:30pm, I'll be giving a short talk about Agent Orange on Okinawa at the Sakurazaka Cinema in Naha City. The talk will follow Masako Sakata's documentary focusing on the children of Agent Orange victims, "Living the Silent Spring". The documentary shows that the damage caused by Agent Orange is not limited to those GI's and Vietnamese civilians directly exposed

Why are we in Okinawa?

2011-12-27T09:00:00.001+09:00

Why are we in Okinawa? is a grass-roots manga-project designed to explain to the world the history of the Ryukyu Islands.Bringing together Okinawa-residents, historians, journalists, social activists, U.S. veterans, university professors and their students, its first print-run will be published in English - followed by Uchinaaguchi and Japanese-language versions. This is an ongoing project -

larry gray's koza riot

2011-12-16T20:15:00.000+09:00

in what has become a december ritual as seasonal as making new year's cards or pounding mochi, this week i returned once again to the scene of the 1970 koza riot. lawrence k gray was an mp on okinawa at the time - and he asked me to liaise with a museum on the island to donate over 50 photographs which he took on the day after the riot. some highlights of these unique images can be seen here

sabotage reviews... march and after

2011-11-14T22:42:00.001+09:00

a quick dispatch from the eye of the okinawa / agent-orange storm in other news, my poetry booklet "march and after" was blessed with a sugar-sweet write-up from paris culture vultures sabotage reviews selected sweet-meats include: "The key appeal of this chapbook is its humanity – before I had got to page twelve, I had laughed four times, and had welled up too

goro nakamura - agent orange photographer

2011-10-23T11:49:00.000+09:00

Last week, I met Goro Nakamura For almost 40 years, Nakamura has been at the forefront of documenting the human toll of Agent Orange in Vietnam. His photographs of defoliated wastelands and deformed children have been exhibited all around the world - and his 1983 book 母は枯葉剤を浴びた (My mother was sprayed by Agent Orange) sold over a quarter-million copies. Like many others, Nakamura has

review: march and after

2011-10-09T10:51:00.000+09:00

Today, The Japan Times is running a review of my poetry booklet, March and After. "At its heart, "March and After" tells a contradictory tale of apologetic survival and downward redemption — the fragile and soaring possibilities of man." "a poetic treatise on what it means to be human" It's a good write-up - and with all proceeds from the booklet going to continuing relief efforts

living the silent spring - 沈黙の春を生きて

2011-09-24T08:56:00.021+09:00

while most american film-makers have steered clear of the issue of agent orange (fear of monsanto / dow lawsuits?), japanese director masako sakata has been ensuring its impact is never forgottenin 2007, she made the film agent orange - a personal requiem after the death of her husband, greg davis. davis was a vietnam war photographer exposed to defoliants in the late 1960s and sakata's

singapore's little india #3

2011-09-22T21:29:00.003+09:00

the memorial to subhas chandra bose's i.n.a.

singapore's little india #2

2011-09-22T21:27:00.002+09:00

singapore's little india #1

2011-09-22T21:23:00.001+09:00

u.s. military defoliants on okinawa

2011-09-12T19:45:00.002+09:00

japan focus is now running the most comprehensive overview of the u.s. military's use of agent orange (pink, blue and white) on okinawa during the vietnam war8 months research compressed into 5000 words available to read here(apologies - but it's depressing in places)jm

...now represented by curtis brown, ny

2011-08-31T09:47:00.005+09:00

in the shitstorm of the past 4 weeks, i'd almost forgotten what made me fall in love with okinawa in the first place it was the research for my novel k-city blues that drove me back there time&time again - and the more i learned the angrier i became and the deeper i dug last week curtis brown new york offered me representation on the back of that novel they've given it a spangly new title - and

agent orange on okinawa (okinawa christian university 8.8.11)

2011-08-25T11:38:00.003+09:00

the presentation that started the current wave of interest in the issue of agent orange on okinawa is now online here(a big thank you to RAFilm Okinawa for their hard work in getting this uploaded so quickly...)

agent orange on okinawa

2011-08-16T15:30:00.003+09:00

this past week, my research into the u.s. military's use of agent orange on okinawa has broken big - 5 headlines, 3 tv slots and a dozen smaller articles. as a result, the japanese foreign minister has promised to ask the pentagon for a full investigation. for all you late comers, you can catch up on a quick rundown of what's been going on here jm

March and After - the e-book

2011-07-31T06:09:00.002+09:00

...breaking news...breaking news...breaking news....the e-book version of march and after is now available from amazon here...breaking news...breaking news...breaking news...

now on sale - march & after

2011-07-24T21:00:00.004+09:00

Click here to order March and After - Poems from Tsunami Country - chronicles life in Japan following the 3.11 earthquake. From the terror of hourly aftershocks and scenes of hardened yakuza fleeing Tokyo, Jon Mitchell takes the reader through Tohoku’s devastation to the 400-year old temple once believed to prevent such catastrophes. Among this untold destruction, these

march and after - update1

2011-07-18T23:38:00.004+09:00

a quick update to the march&after projectpoems from tsunami countrythe hard copy is with the printersandthe ebook is in the capable handsof one of the best minds of our generationsales start in augustand as alwaysyou will be the first to knowjm

the countdown begins

2011-07-11T21:43:00.010+09:00

finallythe first mock-ups are infor the cover of march and after - poems from tsunami countryplanning for a limited edition hard runand a limitless edition e-versionwith every single yen going to peace boatand its ongoing relief operationsin tohokuwith yesterday's magnitude 7rattling nerves even here in yokohamapeople in the northneed all the helpthey can getwill keep you in the loop jm

poetry wales

2011-07-06T17:01:00.002+09:00

poetry wales is running a handful of my march earthquake poems in its summer'11 issue.the poems are 2:46, riverside golfers, white day, at the airport and home.plus editor zoe skolding gave them a nice write-up: Poetry is usually a much longer, slower conversation than the momentary urgency of graffiti or journalism, though there are exceptions – Jon Mitchell, a Welsh poet

all hands project tohoku

2011-07-01T22:57:00.006+09:00

despite the u.s. embassy's shameless attempts to parlayhalf-a-day of roos manual labourinto a week of tv newsremember sometimes it's necessary to strike deals with devils (and big-name banks, nhk)so support all handsthis npo is helping to feed 10,000 rikuzentaka refugeesstill neglected by their governmentthis npo has cleared tons of rotting seaweed fish and debristhat iwate/miyagi industrial

new realities

2011-06-28T21:13:00.008+09:00

six weeks ago this geiger counter* used by yokohama street artists stopped commuters dead in their tracksbut now they slowtheir rushonly long enough to checkthis evening's readingbarely fazes themit's scary how quicklynew realities take holdbecome another way to sell cheap paintings *vhs remo-con (?)

Revive Tohoku Festival - Yokohama

2011-06-25T15:47:00.010+09:00

Blessed by a break in the rainy season, this weekend Yokohama is holding its Revive Tohoku Festival in the park that saved so many lives in the 1923 Kanto Earthquake.Today, there were 40+ stalls featuring the best food and drink from the worst hit prefectures - peppers from Ibaraki - cherries from Fukushima - ramen from Minami Soma - super balls (?) from Miyagi - It was good to see so many people

一本松

2011-06-15T20:42:00.002+09:00

rikuzentakata - famous for the 70,000 pinetreesthat lined its shore -nowas you drive over debris fieldsyou can still spot them in dozenswrapped round bridgessplintered in halfpunched throughthe walls of houses there's only one left standingand now it has become the area'ssign of hope on t-shirts and towelsso close to the (new) shorethe single pine's prospects don't look good -salination, erosion

rikuzentakata 360

2011-06-13T17:20:00.002+09:00

rikuzentakadastill a wastelandand abandonedto the seagulls

2011-06-12T18:16:00.002+09:00

rikuzentakataa festival tunic among the wasteland

2011-06-12T18:15:00.002+09:00

in rikuzentakata's debris fieldnature is taking back over

2011-06-12T18:05:00.001+09:00

marks from the britishsearch&rescue teamswho came through ofunato on march15

2011-06-11T19:46:00.001+09:00

keep the faith in iwate

2011-06-11T17:21:00.001+09:00

ofunatothree months on

2011-06-10T23:35:00.001+09:00

the spirit of tohokureads this barbershop sign while nearby workmen repair the crumbled tiles from a recent aftershock

2011-06-10T23:32:00.001+09:00

words of strength for one nightin morioka beforeheading to the coast

2011-06-10T18:28:00.001+09:00

Heading to Tohoku To cover relief operationsThree months on

rainbow rings round the sun

2011-05-31T22:49:00.001+09:00

twin rainbows round the sun today(ice crystals says google)but they looked much prettierthan that / this photo

in other news

2011-05-21T21:49:00.007+09:00

while it's hard to take your mind off the fact that the world's top scientists have just drawn a giant question mark off the coast of chiba and are warning of a possible march11-level tremor, i've been keeping myself busy with more manmade tragedies occurring at the other end of this shaky archipelagoin april, foreign policy in focus ran my postcard from henoko about the american government's

rock of faith

2011-05-08T09:30:00.004+09:00

japan times article on kashima's rock of faithand how the quakerenewed people's belief in their god of thunder,war and arrowshere

making my peace with the sea

2011-04-28T21:46:00.020+09:00

todaya hike through miura strawberry countrycabbage fieldsmelon flowersgarlic grassthe police dog-training centeranda dozen pensioners picnicking drunkin the remains of a ww2 ak-ak batterywe used to shoot americans oncesaid a mole-lipped geezer(too close)but join us for a cupsome talkout of the windif you'd likeone cup becomes twobecomes threefour a test of character- and tolerance -for this

one month on

2011-04-11T20:19:00.006+09:00

one month onand this eveningagainfukushima shook for two hours non-stopwith tsunami warnings up and down the coastthe tv anchors have brushed off theirstudio hardhatsit seems likeit's going to be a long nighttonightfor us all

shoppers for fukushima

2011-04-10T17:35:00.005+09:00

scattered around tokyothe other prefectures maintain antenna shopsspecialising in their province's goods and craftshokkaido's sells cheeseshizuoka's teaosaka's key-chains of comediansand grandmother's slangtodaythe store for fukushimabrought a tear to my eyea queue outside its doorinside packed with peoplebuying apple juice peach pies sake seasalt chocolatecookies phonestraps cakepaying for

fukushima blues

2011-04-09T22:16:00.005+09:00

after signing off on anotherenvironmental cover-up 1k miles south of dai-ichidinnerin a chain izakayaafter drinking them out of everythingthey stocked from tohokuwe sent the staff out to scour up as much sake from fukushimathey could findswift-become pariahs(cf nagasaki, minamata, lucky dragon)the people of fukushima needevery single ounce of [liquid] supportwe can give them

peace boat in tohoku [2]

2011-04-06T21:28:00.005+09:00

farmers, dancers, michelin-star chefs, i watched these volunteers set up food stations in thirty minutes flatclear six tons of sludge in a morningand still have the timeto listen to the voicesof the survivorsread more in my postcard from tohoku

peace boat in tohoku [1]

2011-04-05T07:30:00.007+09:00

last weekwhile 160k foreign residents headed southnpo / ngo / all-round good guys peace boatreversed the trend and encouraged non-japanese volunteersto head with them northread more here

nuclear ginza

2011-04-03T11:50:00.005+09:00

1995 documentary on osaka's disposable day-labourershired to clean upprevious nuclear spillsnuclear ginza is more honestthan ten thousand tepco statementsnhk announcementsor reassurancesfrom edano - the man they once called jack bauer

8.8+21

2011-04-01T16:47:00.005+09:00

three weeks to the daydrowned by the clamour of radiation fears,military helicoptersand b-rank starsseeking photo ops,the survivors are strugglingto make their voices heardlast weekin ishinomakiwhen i interviewed the people of the citythere were two thingsthat i heard time and timeagainnumber 1 -when we fled the tsunamiit feltexactly like a movienumber 2 -we may have lost our friends our

8.8+19

2011-03-30T22:54:00.005+09:00

unbeknownstto methe welsh media is running my kawasakifuck-club poems as the reason whyone foreigner stayed in this shaky land of black-outs, mag-5'sand cesium-137

8.8+18

2011-03-29T23:06:00.004+09:00

while i try to get my headaround all thisthere are some pictures from our trip north here

8.8+17 b

2011-03-28T22:59:00.004+09:00

8.8+17

2011-03-28T22:59:00.001+09:00

8.8+17 a

2011-03-28T09:21:00.004+09:00

while the eyes of the world are on fukushima dai-1remember to say a prayerfor the people of ishinomaki

heading north = radio silence until tuesday 29th

2011-03-25T15:30:00.003+09:00

For the next 2[?] days I'll be heading north to Ishinomaki to cover Peace Boat's relief operation in one of the areas most devastated by the tsunami. That means I'll be out of touch until around Tuesday - but I'll try to get back in touch as soon after that as possible, jm

8.8+10

2011-03-22T20:54:00.004+09:00

rolling black-outs on kawasaki’s nakamise dori the neon’s doused but undeterred the barkers have armed themselves with miner’s helmets and chemical light-sticks to shine on their catalogues of girls around the entrances of their clubs they’ve strung every type of battery-operated light they could get their [filthy] hands on flashing pikachus and xmas

8.8+9c

2011-03-21T21:56:00.006+09:00

the cherry trees are in early bloom in the imperial palace gardens - cascades of whites and pinks on this rainy afternoon i have the whole place to myself -the hedges of green teathe 800-year old battlements each and every cherry petal -it all belongs to me (and the emperor)

8.8+9b

2011-03-21T17:55:00.002+09:00

on the road to the uk embassy three foreigners dressed in fell-walk boots and toting white safety helmets struck me as so english that I just had to take their photo hearing the shutter-click, the one on the left span around and demanded - in full oxbridge tones - that i let her see the picture being welsh, i know my place so immediately i obliged by

8.8+9a

2011-03-21T17:12:00.002+09:00

for the past three daysfrom the fifth floor of a five star hotel in tokyo, the british embassy has been distributing 85mg potassium iodate pills to uk nationals and their dependents never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, this afternoon i lined up with 60 others, sat through a short talk on worst case scenarios from a young assistant just-arrived

8.8+7

2011-03-18T23:55:00.005+09:00

food porn from a friend elsewhere

8.8+6

2011-03-17T16:59:00.004+09:00

disco infernogreat post over at media mattersabout how fox newssomehow slipped a tokyo nightclubinto its map of j-nuke reactors -a rare error for a company that prides itself onflawless journalism

8.8+4d

2011-03-15T23:09:00.002+09:00

2011-03-15T22:35:00.003+09:00

shitshitnow shizuokam6shit

8.8+4c

2011-03-15T21:48:00.002+09:00

early cherry blossoms brought a tear this year

8.8+4b

2011-03-15T21:46:00.002+09:00

shattered tiles and floor

8.8+4a

2011-03-15T21:41:00.003+09:00

the pm's extension of the evacuation zone to 30km stops commuters dead in their tracks

8.8+2a

2011-03-13T22:53:00.002+09:00

rolling black-outs from tomorrowi baked a final loaf of bread to see us throughthe shops sold out of milkthe chemists sold out of iodine lines of the irradiated on the news -hibakusha -never thought i'd hear the word outside hiroshima

8.8+1d

2011-03-12T23:55:00.003+09:00

finally found that scotch : aftershock balance1 : 4.33anything less than a m4 barely fazes me now= famous last words =

8.8+1c

2011-03-12T19:35:00.003+09:00

tonight the kawasaki soapland touts are offeringa two-for one "aftershock" special -with a 10% discount if you have i.d. to prove you're from the Tohoku region

8.8+1b

2011-03-12T16:38:00.003+09:00

in the shudder of a magnitude 4 (?) aftershocka perfectly stillseagull egg

8.8+1a

2011-03-12T16:25:00.002+09:00

beneath the city tsunami announcementsand military chinooks heading norththe riverside golfers never miss a stroke

8.8j

2011-03-12T00:44:00.003+09:00

thousands still in the streets heading home.after a two hour hiatus- or was it because i was outside? -the tremors have started up again

8.8i

2011-03-12T00:40:00.003+09:00

8.8h

2011-03-11T23:41:00.002+09:00

nhk has dedicated a channel to the lost and missingfrom tomoko imano (tokyo) to takahashi shintaro (sendai)are you okay? we are worriedfrom daisuke suzuki (yokohama) to yoshiko miyahara (fukushima)please contact home. let us know you're okayand the aftershocks keep coming

8.8g

2011-03-11T23:38:00.001+09:00

back homethousands of people walking from tokyo to their bed townstv showing huge swathes of miyagi on firekilometres and kilometres of flames and smoke

8.8f

2011-03-11T20:42:00.001+09:00

20:42and we're bracing for a just-announced magnitude 5 looks like the epicentres are stepping further and further in landhere it comes...

8.8d

2011-03-11T20:14:00.003+09:00

the aftershocks are coming every five or six minutes - twitchy magnitude 3s and 4smiyagi fukushima nagano25 in the past two hoursnasty one just as i type

8.8b

2011-03-11T19:39:00.003+09:00

that last one brought down a mirror and a few booksand the city self-defence tannoy is still broadcasting tsunami alerts

8.8

2011-03-11T19:35:00.001+09:00

nasty rickety aftershocks here in yokohamawe're getting 30 second warnings on the aftrshocksbig one on the way...

takae updates

2011-02-26T14:24:00.010+09:00

Finally, the world is starting to take notice of Takae - the small Okinawan village where the US military (via the Okinawan Defense Bureau) is attempting to build 6 new Osprey-pads. The local population - backed by mainlanders, human rights activists, bio-warriors and (now) some politicians - have been waging a long-running campaign based upon the non-violent principles of Shoko Ahagon. The above

spring

2011-02-25T15:28:00.006+09:00

today, spring blew into yokohama knocking down bicyclessmashing plant pots making schoolkids catch their baseball capswith such glorious weather,i headed out to see the first plum pink blossomsa local shrine had a dozen treesand its monthly day of prayers so homeless men got drunk on shochuwhile the pregnant and the old clapped handsthrew coins nearbyriver golfers tried to keep their shots

kawasaki, my love

2011-02-15T17:17:00.000+09:00

valentine's day at the gee gees, 2011

to all my haters...

2011-02-12T21:17:00.007+09:00

...and all my doubters,to all my nay-sayers and those who said i'd never make it - those who said it was impossible and i was chasing a crazy dream -this post is for you,i did it,i made it,i proved it could be donei finally got a mention in the cleveland jewish news

Yokohama Confidential

2011-02-09T16:27:00.013+09:00

This week, I made my annual pilgrimage to the wrong side of Yokohama's tracks to touch base with the town that inspired me to write the screenplay, Onlies for Lonelies. It was this district's brothels, gang offices and rundown love hotels that nourished the neo-noir tale - and when it won the 2006 American Accolades, the recognition opened a hundred doors (though only some in the aforementioned

kansai snapshots 6

2011-01-28T11:50:00.001+09:00

farewell to gion

kansai snapshots 5

2011-01-26T21:46:00.003+09:00

running man

kansai snapshots 4

2011-01-25T21:44:00.000+09:00

osaka castle

kansai snapshots 3

2011-01-24T23:06:00.001+09:00

pontocho

kansai snapshots 2

2011-01-23T21:41:00.000+09:00

macha, peel and warmth

kansai snapshots 1

2011-01-23T02:08:00.004+09:00

kyoto-bound on the bullet train

photo of the week

2011-01-22T21:54:00.003+09:00

ex-pat free paper, metropolis, is currently running a shot of mine as their photo of the weekyou can take a peek herejm

Koza revisited

2011-01-12T06:54:00.000+09:00

this week, the japan times ran the feature i wrote on bruce lieber - the former mp whose return to okinawa city made headlines on the islandit's a poignant redemption story of a 21-year old GI who found himself embroiled in the island's largest anti-U.S. riot to datethe article is as much about lieber's journey as the riot itself - and as always you can read it in full here

blue skies over yokohama

2011-01-10T09:09:00.001+09:00

10th january 2011

blue skies over kawasaki

2011-01-07T19:04:00.002+09:00

7th january 2011

blue skies over tokyo

2011-01-05T16:11:00.002+09:00

january 5th 2011

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-01T08:00:00.004+09:00

Happy Year of the Rabbit.Thanks for all your support and kind words in 2010.明けましておめでとうございます！今年も宜しくお願いします。jm

40th Anniversary of the Koza Riot - Part V

2010-12-30T22:00:00.003+09:00

foreign policy in focus is now running the first of the articles i wrote last week on okinawapostcard from koza re-sets the 1970 riot into the context of inner-city uprisings that erupted across the u.s.a. throughout the time over the past 4 decades, the authorities have stripped away okinawans' legal recourse to civil disobedience and now trapped between two of the most powerful countries in the

40th Anniversary of the Koza Riot - Part IV

2010-12-24T10:19:00.012+09:00

40th Anniversary of the Koza Riot - Part III

2010-12-22T20:10:00.013+09:00

the former mp - prime time snippets from okinawa television 6 o'clock news20th december 2010the 40th anniversary of the koza riot

40th Anniversary of the Koza Riot - Part II

2010-12-18T23:17:00.003+09:00

after traveling 12,000 kilometresit was heartening to see that i wasn't the only one interested in the return of the mpJM

40th Anniversary of the Koza Riot

2010-12-17T10:25:00.009+09:00

This weekend is the 40th anniversary of the Koza Riot.Last year, I covered the story in Koza Remembered for The Japan Times.Among the dozens of hate mail I received on the back of that article, there was a message from one of the American MP's who was first on the scene of the riot. He'd read my story and he was interested in talking about his version of events.Over the past 10 months or so, we

Sean Michael Wilson

2010-12-08T15:26:00.002+09:00

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to meet up with Sean Michael Wilson over breakfast in Shibuya's On The Corner diner.Sean was in Tokyo to publicize his recent success with his book AX : Alternative Manga which has just been picked by Publisher's Weekly as one of the Top 10 comics of the year.Over eggs, toast and fried tomatoes, we compared notes on life and writing in Japan, while also pledging

the rita taketsuru fan club

2010-11-28T10:35:00.000+09:00

noodle-holicsonsen fanaticsan ivy-league university professor scouring nagano's foothills for john lennon's lost marijuana patch i've met some fascinating characters riding on japanese local trains the most interesting?three junior high school teachers who bandaged my broken heart after i'd lost the woman of my dreams to a 6'4" australian snowboard instructorthey salved my spirits with a flask of

US for Okinawa 2010 Study Tour

2010-11-27T09:07:00.001+09:00

Autumn greetings from Yokohama.I've just put the third draft of my latest book to bed. It's slowly all coming together in the right places and, come December, I'll start in on the next draft.Before then, I've been running an edit for The Japan Times on what I did last summer. In September, I headed down to Okinawa with an expat peacenik group called US For Okinawa. The crew is a spin-off from

An Island in the City

2010-10-17T10:40:00.003+09:00

This week, I'm waist-deep in plot. For the past two months, I've been working on my second book and it is (ever so) slowly taking shape. I've finally nailed the arcs and done 80+% of the research and now it's time to sit on it for a week or so before starting in on the first of many drafts.The weather's turned mild here and the nights are cool enough to sleep with the windows open without fear of