Jonathan Clements studied Chinese and Japanese at the University of Leeds, before taking a Masters degree in Publishing Studies at the University of Stirling. He has taught seminars on Asian media at several film festivals and the universities of Stirling and East Anglia. He has reported on the Japanese music industry for the Financial Times, and analysed the UK video market for the Japan External Trade Organisation. He was a TV presenter on the Sci Fi channel's Saiko Exciting series in 2002, guest curator of the Chinese animation season at the Far East Film Festival, a consultant on the BBC series Japanorama, and a contributing editor for Newtype USA magazine from 2002-2004. He has recorded several DVD commentaries, including Appleseed, Blue Remains and Vampire Hunter D, and has appeared on documentaries for Channel 4, the Discovery Channel and Sci Fi, among others.

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I first began writing my Far West column in 1996 for 3WA, a long-forgotten website. It was a place to document the weirder side of my life in modern media, from the day the studio caught fire to the uses of seduction in the international film business. I reported on my life as a translator, writer, director and industry hanger-on, leaving no stone unturned, from exotic business trips to the unpleasant day I had to find someone's festival screener in my garden shed. The column was rife with scandal, intrigue and moments of actionable confession.

Although 3WA soon disappeared into the ether, my rantings were regarded as suitably entertaining to be picked up elsewhere, first by the website of the UK's Sci Fi channel, and subsequently by Newtype USA magazine. I continue to write two columns for Newtype, while the latest incarnation of the Far West is my "Orient" column, which appears in the Judge Dredd Megazine.