Rafu Shimpo

The Rafu Shimpo (羅府新報, Rafu Shinpō) is a Japanese-English language newspaper based in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California and is the largest bilingual English-Japanese daily newspaper in the United States. ^[1] As of February 2021, it is published online daily. In print publication is only on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

The Rafu Shimpo

Reading a fresh print of The Rafu Shimpo in 1942
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner(s)	Los Angeles News Publishing Co.
Publisher	Michael M. Komai
Editor	Gwen Muranaka (English), Takashi Ishihara (Japanese)
Founded	1903; 121 years ago (1903)
Language	Japanese / English
Headquarters	701 E. Third Street, Suite 130 Los Angeles, CA 90013 United States
Website	www.rafu.com

Founding

The paper began in 1903 as a one-page, mimeographed Japanese-language newspaper produced by Rippo Iijima, Masaharu Yamaguchi, and Seijiro Shibuya. H. T. Komai became publisher in 1922, beginning a family dynasty. He was succeeded by son Akira and grandson Michael.^[2] The name of the newspaper essentially translates as "Los Angeles area newspaper" ("ra" abbreviated from "rashogiri" (羅省枝利), a historic Chinese name for Los Angeles, "fu" meaning "prefecture", and "shinpo", a term for newspaper).^[3]

Weekly English sections first appeared on Feb 21, 1926. The English section became a daily feature on January 11, 1932.^[4]

World War II and Japanese American incarceration

Togo Tanaka, the editor of the paper's English language section, appealed unsuccessfully to the United States government to allow the paper to continue printing in the event of war with Japan, and oversaw the paper's last edition before he was sent to the Manzanar internment camp.^[5]

The paper ceased publication in 1942 due to the incarceration of Japanese Americans at President Franklin D. Roosevelt's order. It was revived in 1946, due to Akira Komai's foresight and the loyalty of his employees. Komai had arranged for the paper's rent to be paid during the war and hid the Japanese type under the floorboards.^[2]

As of 1992, circulation was 23,000. By 1997, “the laborious process of hand setting the several thousand syllabic characters and ideograms used in Japanese, which took up to three hours per page, [had] given way to a rapid computerized operation.”^[6]

Financial troubles

In March 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported that The Rafu Shimpo was losing circulation and money, and was the target of community drives hoping to save the newspaper from going out of business.^[7] On March 25, 2016, publisher Michael Komai released an "open letter" stating that the paper had lost $750,000 over the prior three years, was projected to lose $350,000 in 2016, and would have to close at the end of that year unless its finances improved.

In the hopes of generating 10,000 new subscribers and raising $500,000, Komai introduced an eNewspaper subscription drive in the same "open letter".^[8]

Rafu Shimpo is still operating online as of December 2023.

See also

• History of the Japanese in Los Angeles
• International Bilingual School
• Asahi Gakuen
• Chicago Shimpo
• Hokubei Mainichi Newspaper
• Nichi Bei Times
• Pacific Citizen

References

1. K, Sophia (2021-02-27). "Subscribe to Print". Rafu Shimpo. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
2. Yokoi, Iris (September 19, 1993), "LITTLE TOKYO - Extra! Extra! Rafu Shimpo Is 90", The Los Angeles Times
3. Gil Asakawa (2015). Being Japanese American: A JA Sourcebook for Nikkei, Hapa ... & Their Friends. Stone Bridge Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-61172-022-8. See also "Honoring the 100th Anniversary of the Rafu Shimpo, a speech of U.S. Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard in the Congressional Record, October 10, 2003, p. 24437.
4. Niiya, Brian (1993). Japanese American History. Facts on File. p. 287. ISBN 0-8160-2680-7.
5. Woo, Elaine. "Togo W. Tanaka dies at 93; journalist documented life at Manzanar internment camp", Los Angeles Times, July 5, 2009. Accessed July 7, 2009.
6. Pitt, Leonard; Pitt, Dale (1997). Los Angeles A to Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. p. 416. ISBN 0-520-20274-0.
7. Teresa Watanabe, "L.A.'s Little Tokyo looks to save struggling newspaper", Los Angeles Times, March 1, 2010.
8. Michael Komai, "The State of The Rafu Shimpo: An Open Letter from the Publisher", Rafu Shimpo, March 25, 2016.

External links

• Rafu Shimpo Official Site
• Rafu Shimpo Official Site (in Japanese)
• Rafu Shimpo from Densho Encyclopedia, Eiichiro Azuma