This year marks a significant milestone in the preservation of Japanese vernacular newspapers in the United States as Hawaii Hochi, the flagship publication of the Japanese Hawaiian community since 1912, closes its doors.
In recognition of its enduring relationship with the Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Hawaii Hochi, along with its parent company, Shizuoka Shinbun in Japan, invited Kaoru (Kay) Ueda, curator of the Japanese Diaspora Collection, to evaluate the company’s archival materials for donation to Hoover. Ueda supervised the transfer of about 70 boxes, containing a wealth of photographs and bound volumes of the Hawaii Hochi and its English-language counterpart, the Hawaii Herald.
This newly acquired collection captures a century of community life, history, and advocacy. It highlights Hawaii Hochi’s critical role in championing the legal challenges to support Japanese language schools and addressing the Japanese-language needs of the community during WWII. The collection also reflects the newspaper’s stance in the 1930s on issues related to Japan’s military expansion in Asia, providing insight into a complex era in Japanese Hawaiian history.
With this acquisition, Hoover now houses the photographic archives of both Hawaii Hochi and its rival, Nippu Jiji, the two leading Japanese Hawaiian newspapers. In collaboration with Hawaii Hochi and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Hamilton Library, the Hoover Institution Library & Archives plans to make all available issues of the Hawaii Hochi and Hawaii Herald accessible in the Hoji Shinbun Digital Collection. This invaluable resource will serve as a foundation for advancing research on the Japanese diaspora and related fields for generations to come.
