Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Voices | HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO Aug 26, 2013
Denials of defoliant at former U.S. base site in Okinawa fly in the face of science
The inescapable fact is that the U.S. military, on Kadena Air Base, disposed of materials in drums containing 2,4,5-T , a wartime defoliant, and TCDD, the most toxic component of the dioxin family, known to be associated with the manufacture of such herbicides.
National Aug 7, 2013
Okinawa dump site may be proof of Agent Orange: experts
by Jon Mitchell
The recent discovery of 22 barrels buried on former U.S. military land in the city of Okinawa could be posing the same level of risks to local residents as dioxin hot spots in Vietnam where the American military stored toxic defoliants during the 1960s ...
Asia Pacific | Focus Aug 5, 2013
Ailing vets point to Vietnam-era transport planes
by Steve Vogel
Nearly three dozen rugged C-123 transport planes formed the backbone of the U.S. military’s campaign to spray Agent Orange over jungles hiding enemy soldiers during the Vietnam War. And many of the troops who served in the conflict have been compensated for diseases associated ...
National Jul 29, 2013
Dioxin found in buried barrels near Kadena
by Mizuho Aoki
The Okinawa Defense Bureau recently found dioxin and other hazardous chemicals from barrels unearthed at a former U.S. military installation in the city of Okinawa, officials said Monday, suggesting they may have contained herbicides or agricultural chemicals. The bureau, however, said the possibility that ...
National Jul 3, 2013
Finds raise toxic chemical suspicions at ex-Kadena site
by Mizuho Aoki
The Okinawa Defense Bureau and the city of Okinawa uncover seven more barrels at a former U.S. base site that may have been used to hold toxic chemicals during the Vietnam War.
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jun 4, 2013
'Okinawa bacteria' toxic legacy crosses continents, spans generations
by Jon Mitchell
Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City houses one of Vietnam's busiest maternity clinics, but hidden in a quiet corner, far from the wards of proud new mothers, is a room stacked floor to ceiling with every parent's nightmare.
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jun 4, 2013
As evidence of Agent Orange in Okinawa stacks up, U.S. sticks with blanket denial
by Jon Mitchell
In April 2011, these Community pages published the first accounts of sick U.S. veterans who believe their illnesses were caused by exposure to Agent Orange on Okinawa during the Vietnam War era.
National Feb 15, 2013
U.S. report to deny Agent Orange in Okinawa
by Jon Mitchell
A Pentagon probe into the presence of Agent Orange in Okinawa is set to support veterans' allegations of the clandestine burial of harmful chemicals — but deny the defoliant was among them.