NICHI BEI FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
The Nichi Bei Foundation is an educational and charitable nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping the Japanese American community connected, informed and empowered — primarily through a community newspaper (Nichi Bei Weekly) and Website (www.nichibei.org) as well as educational programming.
About This Cause
The Nichi Bei Foundation is an innovative nonprofit organization that rose out of the ashes of the historic Nichi Bei Shimbun (1899-1942) and Nichi Bei Times (1946-2009) community newspapers to launch the first nonprofit ethnic community newspaper of its kind in the country. This legacy of community leadership through media has endured and evolved for more than 120 years. An inspiring historical legacy In 1899 legendary newspaperman Kyutaro Abiko — known to historians as the most influential Japanese immigrant to America — established the Nichi Bei Shimbun, which would become the most influential Japanese American newspaper in the country prior to World War II. Abiko, who also founded three Japanese American farming colonies in California’s Central Valley as well as a labor contracting company that brought laborers from Japan to the U.S., encouraged Japanese immigrants to settle in their adoptive country, and to rebuild their lives in America. After the war, some former staff of the Nichi Bei Shimbun came back to establish the Nichi Bei Times with the goal of getting the community reconnected after their devastating incarceration in wartime concentration camps. Led by Shichinosuke Asano, a protégé of Takashi “Kei” Hara — the first commoner prime minister of Japan — the first issue of the Nichi Bei Times rolled off the presses on May 18, 1946. It’s early pages were used by Asano to spearhead a movement for postwar relief to Japan. About the Nichi Bei Foundation and the Nichi Bei Weekly As the board of directors of the historic Nichi Bei Times decided to close the newspaper after 63 years in September of 2009, a group of Nichi Bei Times staff and contributing writers, media professionals and community leaders — supported by the Japanese American community — set out to rebuild in the pioneering spirit of Japanese immigrants. They established the Nichi Bei Foundation, an educational and charitable nonprofit organization, as a means to support community organizations, shed light on community issues and document the community’s history. Just one week after the last edition of the Nichi Bei Times rolled off the presses, the very first edition of the Nichi Bei Weekly was published as the first nonprofit ethnic newspaper of its kind in the country. Born in one of the worst economic climates in decades, with virtually no seed money, this pioneering rebirth has become one of the most inspired community movements in recent memory, and the Nichi Bei Foundation has evolved into one of the most innovative Asian American nonprofit organizations. Inspired by a community-serving historical legacy that dates back to 1899, the Nichi Bei Foundation and the Nichi Bei Weekly have a simple yet profound mission: to keep the community connected, informed and empowered. Programs The Nichi Bei Weekly (NBW) keeps the community connected and informed, and is a vehicle to preserve culture, history and community. It also supports other nonprofits through feature stories of their work, publicity for their events in the calendar, and advertisements for their fundraisers. With tough economic times, the NBW serves an important public relations role for fellow nonprofits through both print and digital formats. Educational and cultural resources provided by NBW include: • Japanese Culture and Cherry Blossom Festivals Guide, the only annual guide to Japanese culture in the country; • San Francisco Japantown Map and Directory, the most comprehensive guide to the ethnic enclave; • Obon and Summer Festivals Guide; • Health and Wellness Issue; • Japanese Language School Directory. The Nichi Bei has also published the Japanese American Community Resource Guide, an ambitious publication that features: • A guide to hundreds of nonprofit organizations • Japantown maps and directories • Historic destinations relevant to the Japanese American experience • A map of wartime incarceration sites • Public Japanese gardens • A guide to hundreds of cultural arts classes • Cultural festivals & Film festivals •Cultural and community centers • Japanese schools & Summer cultural programs • Community & senior centers • Japanese grocery markets • Churches and religious organizations In January of 2014, a Digital Edition of the Nichi Bei was launched, providing instant global access to the Nichi Bei Weekly. The Nichi Bei Foundation also launched www.nichibei.org, a community news hub with a Japanese American and pan-Asian American focus. Films of Remembrance. The Nichi Bei Foundation also organizes a Films of Remembrance event, a showcase of films related to the Japanese American wartime incarceration experience. Films of Remembrance has expanded to a two-day event in both San Francisco and San Jose Japantowns, and has held events in New York City and Sacramento as well. (www.filmsofremembrance.org) Nikkei Angel Island Pilgrimage. In an attempt to get the Japanese American community reconnected to our legacy with the Angel Island Immigration Station — where more than 85,000 people of Japanese descent arrived between 1910 and 1940 — the Nichi Bei Foundation launched the first large-scale community pilgrimage there on Oct. 4, 2014. More than 600 people attended from as far away as Japan, Seattle, Los Angeles and Sacramento, including some 200 students in this historic, deeply meaningful program, which not only educated the attendees but also provided a vehicle for family research. Over four pilgrimages, the Nichi Bei Foundation has led more than 1,700 to the former Angel Island Immigration Station. (www.nichibei.org/angel-island-pilgrimage) Wakamatsu Pilgrimage. In 2017, the Nichi Bei Foundation launched a four-bus pilgrimage to the former Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony, the first settlement of Japanese in America. Buses from San Francisco and San Jose Japantowns, the East Bay and Sacramento would once again visit the site in 2019. (www.nichibei.org/wakamatsu-pilgrimage) The Nichi Bei Foundation launched the Northern California Soy and Tofu Festival in 2011. This popular culinary and cultural festival attracts thousands of visitors of all ages to learn the benefits of soy and tofu while serving as the signature fundraiser of NBF. Events include food sampling from soy and tofu vendors, a tofu dessert competition, education, live music and cultural entertainment, and more family-fun activities. (www.soyandtofufest.org) In addition, the Nichi Bei Foundation also launched an Author Series, showcasing authors and books related to the Japanese American experience. "Nichi Bei Café." In February of 2022, the Nichi Bei launched the "Nichi Bei Café," a monthly livestream program on the organization's Facebook and YouTube channels. This innovative dimension, designed to serve a community still sheltering in relative isolation, provides a mixed plate of Japanese American news and culture, supplementing and supporting the Nichi Bei Weekly print publication. (www.nichibei.org/cafe)