By J.K. YAMAMOTO, Rafu Staff Writer
The recent closure of The Hawai’i Herald and The Hawai’i Hochi ハワイ報知 reminds me of a trend that has continued since I started working for the Japanese American/Asian American press as a freelancer and a staff member 40 years ago.
The number of Nikkei community newspapers has gotten smaller and smaller. Among the casualties:
East West News 東西報 (1967-1989), based in San Francisco, a bilingual newspaper serving the Chinese American and larger Asian American community.
Asian Week (1979-2009), the first and largest English-language publication for Asian Americans. Based in San Francisco, it ended its print version in 2009 but continued online until 2012. It still publishes occasional special editions.
Hokubei Mainichi 北米毎日 (1948-2009), based in San Francisco, a bilingual daily serving the Japanese American community of Northern California. It was a successor to the prewar newspapers Shin Sekai 新世界and Hokubei Asahi 北米朝日.
Nichi Bei Times 日米タイムズ (1899-2009), known as Nichi Bei Shimbun 日米新聞 before World War II, a bilingual daily serving the Japanese American community of Northern California. An all-English version, Nichi Bei Weekly, has been published since 2009.
Kashu Mainichi 加州毎日 (1931-1991), a bilingual daily serving the Japanese American community of Southern California and a competitor of The Rafu Shimpo 羅府新報.
Tozai Times, an English-language monthly established in 1984 in Los Angeles and published through the 1990s.
New York Nichibei ニューヨーク日米 (1945-1993), a bilingual newspaper serving the Japanese American community of the greater New York area, believed to be the only publication of its kind on the East Coast.
Utah Nippo ユタ日報 (1914-1991), a bilingual newspaper published in Salt Lake City. One of just four Japanese American newspapers in the continental U.S. that published through the World War II years, since it was located outside the West Coast restricted area. (The JACL newspaper Pacific Citizen also has that distinction.)
Rocky Mountain Jiho ロッキー時報 (1962-2006), a bilingual newspaper serving the Japanese American community of Denver and surrounding areas. Its predecessors include Rocky Shimpo ロッキー新報, which was published from 1930 until the early postwar years.
In addition to The Rafu Shimpo and Nichi Bei Weekly, newspapers that are still being published include The North American Post/Hokubei Hochi 北米報知 in Seattle, The Chicago Shimpo シカゴ新報, and Nikkei West in Northern California.
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Before joining The Rafu Shimpo in 2010, J.K. Yamamoto was assistant editor of Pacific Citizen (1984-1987) and English editor of The Hokubei Mainichi (1987-2009). During the early 1980s, he also wrote for Pacific Ties, UCLA’s Asian American newspaper, and Nikkei Sentinel 日系みはり, a joint publication of Little Tokyo People’s Rights Organization in Los Angeles and Japanese Community Progressive Alliance in San Francisco.