Poet and author Maya Angelou is said to have said, “You can’t really know where you’re going until you know where you have been.” These words ring true in “Paper Chase,” a documentary film that takes us on a 150-year journey of where Japanese Americans have been through the lens of the community newspapers that […]
The evolving face of Nikkei media
November 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The media landscape was forever changed in the 21st century as readership increasingly moved online and economic hardships in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis rocked the world. Media outlets serving Japanese speakers and Japanese Americans did not escape the turmoil either. Within the last five years, the San Francisco Bay Area has […]
Nichi Bei celebrates five-year milestone
October 16, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Nichi Bei Foundation, publisher of the nonprofit community newspaper Nichi Bei Weekly and presenter of the Northern California Soy and Tofu Festival, held its Fifth Anniversary Celebration Oct. 12 at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California in San Francisco’s Japantown. There were presentations on the Nichi Bei Foundation’s programs, including […]
Nichi Bei president receives Consul General Award
June 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment
BERKELEY, Calif. — Nichi Bei Foundation President Kenji G. Taguma was presented the Consul General Award by Consul General of Japan in San Francisco Hiroshi Inomata last month. The award presentation was made at the VIP Reception for sponsors of the third annual Northern California Soy and Tofu Festival, held at Berkeley Bowl West on […]
Hokubei shuts down Website
February 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment
More than a year after its print publication folded, the Website www.hokubei.com was shut down Jan. 31, said Hokubei Mainichi Newspaper’s former English section editor, JK Yamamoto. Yamamoto told the Nichi Bei Weekly that he knew that the site was going to be taken down, and had posted content to the site the previous evening. […]
Out of the ashes, a rebirth: Letter from Kenji G. Taguma, Nichi Bei Times Vice President and English Edition Editor, Nichi Bei Foundation President
August 20, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Today’s headline news may come as a shock to many, particularly given the relative success, popularity and visibility of the Nichi Bei Times, and particularly this groundbreaking Nichi Bei Times Weekly. What many of you may not see or understand is that we also have a thrice-weekly Japanese-language edition, too. We have, probably, the most […]
Reinventing an ethnic newspaper as a cultural institution
While daily newspapers across the country battle for their lives, a scrappy little ethnic newspaper in San Francisco’s Japantown is discovering new ways to survive. It is the Nichi Bei Weekly, and it’s become my poster child for the special role that ethnic news media can play in their communities. The elements of success […]