TWO JAPANESE-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS FOLD IN CALIFORNIA

New America Media - With its last issue on October 30, the Hokubei Mainichi became the second bilingual Japanese-American newspaper in Northern California to shut down in the last two months. Its competitor, the Nichi Bei Times, folded in September.. . .

The closure of Hokubei Mainichi and Nichi Bei Times signals the end of an era, as the bilingual newspapers served to unify a "distinct" and "unique" generation of Japanese immigrants, according to Jon Funabiki, director of the Renaissance Journalism Center at San Francisco State University.

"They are the remnants of the initial pioneering Japanese-American community that came at the turn of the century in the 1900's," said Funabiki. The immigrants bonded together at a time when anti-Asian immigration laws limited their numbers.

"Contrast the Japanese-American population to the Mexican-American population," Funabiki said, "where there is ongoing immigration from Mexico to the United States that has caused a constant replenishment of the community, constant growth in the size of community, constant re-energizing of the culture and history of the community."

The isolation has resulted in a kind of stagnation that has left out young members of the community, Funabiki added.

"[Young people] have many more interests. They are less bound to the newspaper and more accepting of other kinds of cultures and experiences," he said. They want to experiment and have a much more globalized world view."