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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
In September 2011, The Asia-Pacific Journal published my research into the presence of US military defoliants, including Agent Orange, on Okinawa during the 1960s and early ‘70s. Drawing on the testimonies of over 20 US veterans who had served on the island at a time when it was a forward staging post for the war in Vietnam, the article catalogued the storage, spraying and burial of these dioxin-tainted chemicals on 14 American installations from the Yambaru jungles in northern Okinawa to Naha Port in the south. Despite this large number of firsthand accounts, however, the Pentagon continues to deny that military defoliants were ever on the island.
Japanese translation available: https://www.projectdisagree.org/2011/12/japan-focus-id3652.html
1 Jon Mitchell, “Military defoliants on Okinawa: Agent Orange”, The Asia-Pacific Journal, September 12, 2011.
2 In October 2011, Prime Minister Noda sent Cabinet members to Okinawa to pave the way for the relocation of MCAS Futenma to an expanded base at Henoko. During these meetings, the Agent Orange issue was cited as one of the primary complaints that local leaders wanted Tokyo to address. On 18th October, the leaders of three municipalities - Chatan, Kadena and Okinawa City - met Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gemba Koichiro, and requested a wide-ranging investigation into the matter (details of which can be read in Japanese here). On 21st October, 2011, the Mayor of Chatan met the deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, Saito Tsuyoshi, and asked him for reassurances on the burial of defoliants in his town (a Japanese-language link is here). The account of the alleged burial of dozens of barrels of Agent Orange in Chatan Town can be read in full here.
3 See: 軍転協「辺野古は不可能」外相・米大使らに訴え, Okinawa Times October 29 2011. Available here.
4 Japanese text is available here.
5 William A. Buckingham, “Operation Ranch Hand - The air force and herbicides in Southeast Asia, 1961-1971”, Office of Air Force History, Washington D.C., 1982, 16.
6 Some declassified sections of Project AGILE are available here.
7 The complete text of the 1998 VA ruling can be read here.
8 A full pdf file of the document is available here.
9 Buckingham, 196.
10 Quoted in “Agent Orange was likely used in Okinawa: U.S. vet board”, Kyodo News Service, July 8, 2007.
11 The VA often relies upon a formulaic denial along the lines of this 2009 decision: “The Board is unaware of any official confirmation that veterans were exposed to herbicides anywhere in Okinawa… There appears to be no actual evidence of herbicides in Okinawa.” (The full text of this denial can be found here.)
12 In 1966, the Air Force began to spray defoliants over Laos and the border between North and South Vietnam. This expansion put such a strain on herbicides supplies that in 1966, there was almost a herbicide shortage in the United States. Buckingham, 133.
13 See my September article for more information related to the exposure of Okinawan base workers.
14 Philip Jones Griffiths, “Agent Orange - ‘Collateral Damage in Viet Nam”, Trolley Ltd., London, 2003, 165.
15 Buckingham, 164.
16 Griffiths, 169.
17 “Employment of Riot Control Agents, Flame, Smoke, Antiplant Agents, and Personnel Detectors in Counterguerilla Operations,” Department of the Army Training Circular, April 1969.
18 Buckingham, 188.
19 The alleged disposal of Agent Orange during Operation Red Hat is explained in detail in my September, 2011 article.
20 Attempts to acquire the documents upon which the Montana VA made these comments are currently the focus of a protracted Freedom of Information request tussle with the National Archives and Records Administration.
21 Jon Mitchell, “Beggars' Belief: The Farmers' Resistance Movement on Iejima Island, Okinawa”, The Asia-Pacific Journal, June 7, 2010.
22 米軍が枯葉作戦, Okinawa Times, October 31, 1973.
23 A fuller account of Goetz's struggle with the VA can be read here.
24 Goetz's blog can be accessed here.
25 Buckingham, 188.
26 A Japanese-language TV report on the press conference can be viewed here.
27 Originally formed in anticipation of COP-10, Citizens' Network for Biodiversity in Okinawa is a group focusing on the interrelationship of the environment, peace and human rights.
28 Medoruma Shun has become increasingly involved in the recent struggle for truth over defoliant usage on Okinawa and his coverage of my press conference can be read here.
29 A complete account of Parton's testimony can be read here.
30 In an October 2011 meeting with Nakamura Goro, Vietnam War photographer and one of Japan's leading experts on Agent Orange, he explained to me the problems faced by researchers attempting to identify clusters of dioxin-related diseases in Japan. Unlike the US, whose Centers for Disease Control and Prevention record spikes in diseases, Japan has no such system. With no centralized source available for tracking down records related to public health, it is almost impossible for researchers to pinpoint higher incidences of dioxin warning signs such as birth deformities and specific cancers. The only way involves surveying clinics and hospitals near the areas of suspected defoliant usage.
31 “Employment of Riot Control Agents, Flame, Smoke, Antiplant Agents, and Personnel Detectors in Counterguerilla Operations,” Department of the Army Training Circular, April 1969.
32 For example, see: 薬品影響？北部で奇形生物 Okinawa Times, July 12, 2007.
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