About the Talk

Journalist Jon Mitchell discusses his new book Why Are We in Okinawa? A History of Violence (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026), which explores how Okinawa has been annexed by Japan, occupied by the United States, and now increasingly menaced by China.

The talk focuses on 1955, the pivotal year when Okinawans launched one of the world’s most tenacious – yet overlooked – civil rights movements. Responding to US military violence, land seizures, and systemic discrimination, Okinawans developed grassroots, absolutely pacifist resistance, often led by women, and sustained through continuous protest. This struggle unfolded in parallel with the African American civil rights movement, adopting similar tactics of peaceful civil disobedience, and culminated in mass demonstrations that helped win reversion to Japan in 1972.

In the twenty-first century, vibrant resistance continues to permeate Okinawan society – including art, music, and comedy – shattering stereotypes of a staid political culture in Japan and offering a model that embraces diversity, historical awareness, and democratic participation.

About the Speaker

Born in Wales, Jon Mitchell is a journalist with Okinawa Times and recipient of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan’s Freedom of the Press Lifetime Achievement Award. Author of four acclaimed Japanese books about Okinawa, in 2021, Mitchell’s first English book, Poisoning the Pacific, was a winner in the US Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual awards. Mitchell is a UEA alumnus (BA American Studies, ‘97).

This event is run by the Centre for Japanese Studies and generously supported by the Toshiba International Foundation. The event will be held in hybrid format (JSC LT 0.01, UEA and online) and will be followed by a reception.