Japanese media in the United States
This series asks editors in the field about the history, characteristics, readership, challenges, and future vision for Japanese language media outlets, including paid and free papers, newspapers, and magazines published across the United States.
Stories from this series
#13 Interview with the New Owner - Los Angeles Japanese Radio TJS
Oct. 9, 2023 • Keiko Fukuda
To Internet radio In the morning when I was taking my children to school, I used to listen to the Los Angeles Japanese radio station's program "LA Morning" in the car. Later, when my youngest child graduated from high school, I no longer had the opportunity to listen to Japanese radio, but without my knowledge, TJS had switched to Internet broadcasting. By switching to Internet broadcasting, the sound quality was better than FM, there was no need for expensive radio …
No. 12 Sakura Radio, an internet radio station that reaches across the US
March 31, 2023 • Keiko Fukuda
Connecting the community Sakura Radio, which is broadcast online from New York, started in October 2017 and has gradually spread into Japanese communities across the U.S. over the years. What makes the radio unique is that it is run by Interesse, a human resources company that is in a different industry from the media. Interesse President Masato Fujiwara explained the background to the launch of the radio station as follows: "While traveling around the US for my recruitment business, I …
11th Japanese TV Connecting Generations: "Japan Hollywood Network"
Dec. 21, 2022 • Keiko Fukuda
The maximum number of viewers was 850,000. When I moved from Japan to Los Angeles 30 years ago, I developed a new habit: watching Japanese TV dramas broadcast locally on Sunday nights. Before coming to Los Angeles, I was busy at a publishing company, so I rarely watched TV dramas, and I enjoyed watching Hollywood movies much more than Japanese dramas. However, once I left Japan, I began to look forward to Sundays with dramas like "Wataru Seken wa Oni …
No. 10: TV FAN, a magazine that fosters Japanese culture, published from 1975 to 2010
Jan. 10, 2022 • Keiko Fukuda
Introducing Japanese TV programs I first started working as a freelance writer in 2003, and the magazine I wrote for was TV FAN. I continued to write for the magazine until its last publisher, Hiroshi Takeuchi, stopped publication in 2010. After it went out of publication, when I went to Japanese events, readers would often ask me, "Is TV FAN no longer being published?" It's been 11 years since then, and I don't get asked that question anymore, but when …
No. 9: Established in 2000, "ViViNavi" is an online media with 33 locations across the US and worldwide operations
Dec. 27, 2021 • Keiko Fukuda
Participatory media So far, this series has interviewed editors of print media such as newspapers and magazines published all over the United States. However, in today's Internet society, in addition to print media, we should also focus on "Japanese media" that operate only online. "Discover Nikkei," where I am writing this article, is itself an online media. The advantages of online media are that they can be viewed from anywhere in the world, that corrections can be made immediately when …
No.8: The Daily Sun, published in 1984 - A newspaper supported by core readers in LA
Nov. 22, 2021 • Keiko Fukuda
The Nomo whirlwind for the Dodgers marks a turning point When I first started living in Los Angeles in 1992, the Japanese newspaper Nikkan Sun was a paid publication. Later, it became free, and then with the appearance of Los Angeles Dodgers player Nomo, who created a tornado of a sensation, I remember the paper suddenly becoming a familiar presence in the mid-1990s, when getting information from the Internet was still not common. Current publisher Toyama Toshimasa, who took over …
