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LA's historic Japanese American paper priced out of Little Tokyo

A close-up of a person’s hand flipping through the pages of an old Japanese-language newspaper. The visible page is dated July 1, 1914, and titled "L.A. Japanese Daily."
The nation's last remaining Japanese American daily newspaper The Rafu Shimpo is moving from downtown Los Angeles to Montebello.
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Anne Cusack
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Topline:

It's an end of an era for the country’s only Japanese American daily newspaper. After 122 years in Los Angeles, the Rafu Shimpo is leaving for Montebello.
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L.A.'s historic Japanese American paper priced out of Little Tokyo

Why now: Publisher Michael Komai said in a Rafu Shimpo story announcing the move that rising rents and gentrification have made it impossible to stay in L.A.'s Little Tokyo — a neighborhood now listed among America’s most endangered historic places.

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Same mission: Despite the move, Komai said, the Rafu will continue to serve and represent the Japanese American community with the same dedication it’s shown in coverage through two global pandemics and wars that included chronicling Japanese American incarceration during World War II.

Where the paper is going: Its new location is 1300 W. Beverly Blvd. in Montebello.

Go deeper: Preservation Group Says 'Endangered' Little Tokyo Needs Support

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