Few institutions have been such an integral part of their community as The Rafu Shimpo has for nearly one and a quarter-century.
Far more than merely a newspaper, The Rafu simultaneously communicates what goes on with the lives and actions of a large section of American society, as it informs and impacts the directions of those lives.
With the dawn of a new century upon them, a trio of students at USC – Rippo Iijima, Seijiro Shibuya and Masaharu Yamaguchi – decided in 1903 that the community needed a daily voice of record. They recognized the news and stories that quite likely would not be told elsewhere, let alone preserved for future generations.
Japanese immigration to the U.S. increased sharply in the late 1800s, facilitated both by new policies in Japan allowing its citizens to leave, and also the need for cheap labor in Hawaii and cities along the American West Coast.
In the Los Angeles neighborhood that was becoming “Japantown” or “Little Tokyo,” it quickly became clear that a unifying source of information was a vital next step.
Beginning as a posted daily mimeograph of the latest news and happenings, The Rafu Shimpo – literally, “Los Angeles News Report” – soon established a foothold in the community, along with a few other news outlets.
By the time the 1930s were coming to an end, The Rafu Shimpo had become a trusted authority for information in a Japanese community that was being solidly integrated into the fabric of America. The Issei – or first generation of immgrants – had established homes, businesses, educational and civic institutions, all contributing to the vitality of Southern California. And their children, locally born and raised, were the next generation of Americans.
December 1941 changed everything, locally, nationwide and around the globe. The day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that thrust the U.S. into World War II, government officials decended upon the offices of The Rafu Shimpo, determined to expose any loyalty or aid to the enemy.
The hysteria of wartime was pervasive, and in February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an order that mandated rounding up some 120,000 “persons of Japanese ancestry” – including native-born American citizens – and sending them to remote concentration camps.
H.T. Komai, publisher of The Rafu Shimpo was jailed, as were hundreds of community leaders and average citizens, under suspicion of being enemy sympathizers. Thousands lost their homes and livelihoods, without ever being charged with any offense. On April 4, 1942, The Rafu published an uncertain final issue before being shuttered, led with a frontpage article titled “We’ll Meet Again.”
With the war over and the nation re-establishing a new normal in a new geopolitical reality, The Rafu returned to daily publishing on Jan. 1, 1946. Thus began an era of rapid growth in the community and in media, as newspapers, movies and radio were being joined by the new kid on the block: television. Information, and the organizations that delivered it, were as important as ever.
The Rafu served a dual role on the modern landscape, providing a daily source of accurate news to a Japanese-speaking population, at the same time growing with a vibrant community of younger Americans.
The Nisei Week Festival, which was established to promote local businesses before the war, was revived and grew into an enormous event, drawing thousands annually to Little Tokyo. The descendants of those early Japanese immigrants were becoming community leaders, outstanding scholars and celebrated public figures … and decision makers.
Through all of it, The Rafu Shimpo was a reliable reporter and informer, for the Japanese American community, and increasingly, for Los Angeles at large.
In the decades that followed, the mission of the paper never waned, even as norms shifted, priorities were adjusted and the world has witnessed a sea change in the very ways news and information are disseminated and consumed.
Now in its 120th year, The Rafu holds that same place – and shoulders the same duties – as it did when the first print edition hit newsstands in 1903. The paper has survived through two world wars, at least one great depression, two global pandemics and major shifts in our individual and national identities.
The mission continues, however, and remains undaunted. Recent editions, as of the writing of this piece, are filled with coverage of the daily happenings that make up a life: cherry blossom festivals, plans to formally recognize a historic WWII site at Griffith Park, how Shohei Ohtani has reached yet another baseball milestone, a community fashion show, photos from a local high school softball game, and yes, those who have passed on.
The value of a community-based newspaper and the preservation of their stories cannot be overstated. While the pages may yellow and become brittle with age, the printed word is indelible, there for now and for generations to come. The Rafu Shimpo remains faithful to your stories. We hope you will discover all it has to offer.