Why are we in Okinawa? A History of Violence
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
- Venue
- Russell Square: College Buildings
- Room
- Djam Lecture Theatre (DLT)
- Event type
- Seminar
About this event
This event marks the launch of Why are we in Okinawa? A History of Violence (Bloomsbury Academic), which traces how Okinawa was annexed by Japan, occupied by the United States, and now menaced by China.
Once a wealthy kingdom, Okinawa was seized by the Meiji government in the late 19th century then abandoned to US rule after World War II. During 27 years without civil or labour rights, Okinawans developed a powerful pacifist movement that helped secure reversion to Japan in 1972. Today, 31 US bases still occupy Okinawa, and tensions are rising as China questions Japan's sovereignty over the islands, firing missiles into nearby seas. Amid these ongoing problems, Okinawans resist through protest, music, comedy and art, offering an inspirational model of grassroots democracy and civic engagement.
Registration
This event is free, open to the public, and held both in person and online.
Organiser
This event has been organised by the SOAS Japan Research Centre.
About the speaker
Jon Mitchell is a British journalist with Okinawa Times. An expert in the US Freedom of Information Act, his investigations make headlines in Japan and feature in reports for the US Congress. Author of four Japanese books, his first English book, Poisoning the Pacific (2020), was a winner in the US Society of Environmental Journalists' annual awards. In 2023, Mitchell received Japan's most prestigious journalism prize, the Waseda Ishibashi Tanzan Memorial Journalism Award for public service.
Contact
Contact email: centres@soas.ac.uk
Header image credit: Yasuaki Uechi via Unsplash
