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What Lessons Can Vietnam teach Okinawa about U.S. Military Dioxin?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Jon Mitchell
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Extract

In December 2015, Urasoe City pledged to conduct a survey of former base employees to ascertain the extent of contamination at Camp Kinser, a 2.7 square kilometer US Marine Corps supply base located in the city. Urasoe's director of planning, Shimoji Setsuo, announced that the municipality would work with prefectural authorities to carry out the investigation and he would also request funding from the national government. This is believed to be the first time that such a large-scale survey of former base workers has been launched in Japan.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , February 2016 , e1
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2016

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References

Notes

1 News of the announcement can be watched (in Japanese) here.

2 Jon Mitchell, “FOIA Documents Reveal Agent Orange Dioxin, Toxic Dumps, Fish Kills on Okinawa Base. Two Veterans Win Compensation, Many More Denied”, The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 39, No. 1, October 5, 2015. Available here.

3 Email correspondence between the author and USFJ on 2 October 2015 and 7 January 2016.

4 For an English summary of this issue, see here.

5 Masaaki Kameda, “U.S.-Japan environmental agreement on U.S. bases flawed, experts say,” The Japan Times, September 29, 2015. Available here.

6 Jon Mitchell, “Okinawa - The Pentagon's Toxic Junk Heap of the Pacific,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 47, No. 6, November 25, 2013.

7 For an English article on this topic, see here.

8 See the announcement (in Japanese) here.

9 For WHO information regarding the toxicity of dioxin, see here.

10 Jon Mitchell, “Pentagon blocks report on ‘toxic contamination’ on base outside Naha,” The Japan Times, September 16, 2015. Available here.

11 For example, see Jeanne Stellman et al. “The extent and patterns of usage of Agent Orange and other herbicides in Vietnam,” Nature. Vol 422, 681.

12 For example, see Jon Mitchell, ‘US Military Defoliants on Okinawa: Agent Orange,‘The Asia-Pacific Journal Vol 9, Issue 37 No 5, September 12, 2011. Available here.

13 Jon Mitchell, “Agent Orange on Okinawa - The Smoking Gun: U.S. army report, photographs show 25,000 barrels on island in early '70s,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol 10, Issue 40, No. 2, October 1, 2012. Available here.

14 Jon Mitchell, “‘Deny, deny until all the veterans die’ – Pentagon investigation into Agent Orange on Okinawa,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 23, No. 2. June 10, 2013. Available here.

15 Travis Tritten, “Expert: Chemicals found on Okinawa likely not Agent Orange,” Stars and Stripes, August 15, 2013. Available here.

16 For example see: Sean Kimmons, “Agent Orange Legacy Scourges Vietnam,” The Diplomat. July 4, 2014.

17 One of the best explorations of the U.S. government's hypocritical treatment of Agent Orange victims can be found in Fred A. Wilcox, “Scorched Earth: Legacies of Chemical Warfare in Vietnam,” Seven Stories Press, New York, 2011.

18 For updates on the USAID project to remediate contamination at Da Nang Airport see here.

19 Kimberly Hughes, “Agent Orange in Okinawa,” The Diplomat. November 18, 2014. Available here.