The Rafu Shimpo (羅府新報, L.A. Japanese Daily News) is the longest running Japanese American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1903 supporting the small but growing Japanese community in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles, California. By the 1940s it was the most widely circulated paper in the region and included a weekly English section for second generation Japanese Americans. The resource contains all obtainable issues from 1914 through 2019, and new contents will be added annually. The Rafu Shimpo rests squarely at the scholarly intersection of Japanese history and the Japanese-American émigré community—especially in California, with its unique coverage of news, community history, and announcements of births, marriages, and deaths.
