TBV Guest Writer: Dan Zoku

Dan Zoku aka Mr. Intermittent is a free-lance journalist who, in his own words ‘likes to be right there – right there! – on the front line, in the firing zone!’


His on again off again relationship with actress Sarah Jessica Parker in the late 90s and early 2000s, and the fact that ‘Danzoku’ means intermittent in Japanese earned him his nickname.

Mr. Zoku was born in the small city of East London in South Africa. He originally had ambitions of becoming a pilot, but had his license permanently revoked after crashing his light aircraft into a sheep farm. Subsequent investigations revealed that Zoku had been under the influence of alcohol.

Zoku, said of the accident, ‘I was flying home from a mate’s Christmas party. Yes I was drunk. Yes it was stupid.’


After the accident Zoku spent several months recovering in hospital. During his time there he met an aging man named Goopa Hashimoto. Hashimoto, it transpired, was a kamikaze pilot who had survived his mission. Due to his terrible health he was unable to tell Zoku much more. However, the story so fascinated Zoku that he swore to travel to Japan and track down Hashimoto’s living relatives.

Although severely in debt (owing to massive medical expenses and having to compensate the farmer for loss of livestock) he made a trip to Japan. ‘It was one hell of a mission’ he said. ‘Every tenth person was called Hashimoto. The language barrier was severe.’ This was where he learnt that his name meant something in Japanese. ‘I would introduce myself and people would say “nani? (what?)” some would even try to correct my pronunciation. At first I thought they were strange people. But then, if a non-English speaker walked up to me on the street and started saying “Intermittent. Intermittent” I would also be baffled.’

After several weeks of intense detective work he finally tracked down the right family. He didn’t get much out of the interview process. ‘I spent three days trying to interview the family and in the end all I could conclude was that their cat’s name was neko. A word I later learnt meant cat.’

Nevertheless, Zoku’s interest in journalism had been piqued. His first article entitled, ‘Is it really a crime?’ about people who sleep with animals, was published in the obscure journal Soggy. After selling several other articles and garnering something of a reputation (if only in select circles) as a maverick, he moved to the United States. He lived in New York City for several years and wrote about everything from collector’s smoking pipes to international trade fairs. During his time there he met Sarah Jessica Parker, and the two dated on and off for three years. During an interview on the Jay Leno show, Parker said of him, ‘He’s an interesting person. Intense. Very intense. Passionate. Sometimes a little warped.’

Zoku’s article, ‘Can we please talk about something else?’ details his relationship with Parker and the television industry.

After getting arrested for Marijuana possession he was deported to South Africa and moved back to his home town of East London. Although he now uses South Africa as a base he spends almost all his time abroad. He has garnered a hard earned reputation as an ‘on the ground’ journalist, who despises what he calls, ‘Armchair Investigation’. He is also known for reporting on stories that tend to slip under the mainstream media’s radar. His style is irreverent, often humorous. One never knows from where he will be writing next, or what he will be writing about.

As for me, I had the rare opportunity of meeting him at an author’s dinner in Johannesburg. We got along well and have remained in contact ever since. Whenever he covers a certain story he does so from several angles and sells his pieces to a variety of publications. When he learnt that I was writing for a blog he agreed to give me articles of his that do not get accepted by other publications. As such, I am in the rare (in fact unique) position to post the articles of this most illustrious journalist at no cost to myself. I will be publishing his articles whenever I receive them. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I do.



Mike Rands – Japan 2009