About the Herald

Our Founder

The Hawaii Hochi was established in 1912 by Fred Kinzaburo Makino to serve Hawaii’s Japanese community. Makino was 21 years old when he immigrated to Hawaii from Yokohama, Japan, in 1899. The son of Joseph Higgenbotham, a merchant/trader from England, and Kin Makino, a native of Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture, Makino worked in sugar on the Big Island before settling in Honolulu where he opened the Makino Drug Store in Nuuanu. In 1903, he opened an office to assist Japanese immigrants experiencing immigration difficulties. It marked the start of Makino’s long commitment to stand up for the Japanese community. His efforts on their behalf resulted in higher wages and improved working conditions for sugar plantation workers.

The Hawaii Hochi

Fred Kinzaburo Makino began publishing The Hawaii Hochi on December 7, 1912 to serve as the voice of the Japanese workers. Although there were other Japanese-language newspapers, Makino felt that The Hawaii Hochi should reflect the viewpoint of the Japanese people in Hawaii. The paper took editorial positions on behalf of the people. Among the issues it tackled were:

• Helping Japanese soldiers who fought for the United States in World War I obtain U.S. citizenship.

• Appealing through editorials to longshoremen who went on strike because their union leadership accepted 38 Japanese workers as members.

• Defending Japanese language schools from discriminatory rules and regulations. This landmark case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and had nationwide implications.

• Reminding authorities and the public that the U.S.-Japan treaty and the U.S. Constitution guaranteed basic human rights and freedoms of the Japanese in Hawaii.

Today, The Hawaii Hochi newspaper is the only daily Japanese language newspaper in Hawaii. With its proud history, the paper covers local, national and international daily events and features stories six days a week. Its two-page English language section features articles from Japan as well as various legal notices at county and state levels.

The Hawaii Herald

The Hawaii Herald’s name has been connected with several different publications since Hawaii Hochi founder Fred Kinzaburo Makino first came up with it in October 1942.

In an attempt to “Americanize” The Hawaii Hochi’s name to deflect anti-Japanese sentiment during World War II, Makino renamed it The Hawaii Herald. It kept its new moniker for almost 10 years before returning to its original banner of The Hawaii Hochi in January 1952.

In 1962, when Japanese newspaperman Konosuke Oishi of the Shizuoka Shimbun purchased Hawaii Hochi, he decided that Hawaii’s Japanese American community needed a publication of its own for the growing population of Nisei, Sansei and Yonsei who could not read Japanese. Oishi and Hawaii Hochi’s president and publisher Paul S. Yempuku created a new Hawaii Herald in March 1969 as a weekly eight-page tabloid.

The Hawaii Herald, now in its 30th year, continues to be published twice a month. The Herald’s comprehensive and varied coverage chronicles the past achievements, current concerns and future aspirations of its distinguished community. Each issue contains columns from esteemed writers such as Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul A. Samuelson, Sake aficionado Chris Pearce and award-winning novelist Cedric Yamanaka. Calendars and community focus items relating to the Japanese American community also keep the community abreast of events and activities relevant in their lives.

Recently, Joe Udell, The Hawaii Herald’s online editor and staff writer, won  his third straight Society of Professional Journalists award for Feature Writing in the non-daily newspapers category.