Riburando

GENRE: Documentary.

STATUS: In development. Partial filming completed. A script will be developed to reflect the voice of the narrator of the film and work on this project is scheduled for late 2025.

LOGLINE: The Hawaii Herald, a newspaper dedicated to the AJA (Americans of Japanese Ancestry) community in Hawaii, is forced to shut down after 43 years, but rather than accept its demise, a few members of the staff work to keep the paper alive by rebranding it as an online newspaper.

COMPANY NOTES: YBS filmmakers Mark Ganialongo and Eric Nemoto have interviewed members of the Herald’s staff before the newspaper closed down, when the future at the time looked inevitably bleak. Since that time, the paper has merged with other AJA newspapers on the West Coast to create a new online newspaper called San Times. Mark and Eric intend to tell the story of how the remaining staff, Kristen Nemoto Jay, Jodie Chiemi Ching, and Summer Nakaishi, took an old venture that had to close down because it had no possibility of success, and turned it into a new venture with a brand new future. Riburando, Japanese for “Rebrand,” is the current working title.

Former Herald Staffers Kristen Nemoto Jay, Jodie Chiemi Ching, Summer Nakaishi

The Hawaii Herald

The following is an article written in the Honolulu Civil Beat, a nonprofit news organization that provides local reporting and investigative journalism for Hawaii, by Chad Blair, on November 2nd, 2023, about the closing of a Hawaii AJA institution, The Hawaii Herald

The Logo For The Hawaii Herald

THE HAWAII HERALD TO SHUTTER OPERATIONS DECEMBER 1. THE 43-YEAR-OLD NEWSPAPER SERVES THE LOCAL JAPANESE AMERICAN COMMUNITY. A publication whose origins date to World War II will close its doors next month. Kristen Nemoto Jay, editor of The Hawaii Herald, informed contributors in an email Wednesday. “We knew this day would come, just thought we would have more time and warning,” she wrote. “But despite our sadness, we’re grateful to you all for your constant support. The time and energy that you all have devoted to this paper is invaluable. It’s because of you that we were able to last this long.” Jay added, however, that there is still “one beacon of hope that we find a buyer of this paper before the year’s up. It’s a long shot but we’re going to at least try.” The reasons for the closing are declining subscribers and advertising. The Hawaii Herald’s name has been connected with several publications since Hawaii Hochi founder Fred Kinzaburo Makino first came up with it in October 1942. It began publishing in its current form in 1980. The Hawaii Hochi, which is a separate publication, dates to 1912 and still publishes in the Japanese language.

The Final Issue Of The Hawaii Herald

The San Times

The following is taken from a report written by Diane Ako, on July 14, 2024, provided by the Hawaii ABC network affiliate, KITV, on the closing of a Hawaii AJA iconic publishing institution, The Hawaii Herald, and the rebirth of its new version, the San Times

The Logo For The San Times

HONOLULU (ISLAND NEWS) – A beloved ethnic newspaper finds a new home, a new look, and a new name. For 43 years, the Hawaii Herald told Japanese-American stories in Hawaii. Now it’s resurfacing as The San Times – as in “sansei” – the third generation of Japanese-Americans. The Hawaii Herald closed in December 2023. Kristen Nemoto Jay was its former (and final) editor, and is now one of three San Times co-editors. “When the Hawaii Herald closed, we were on a mission to find someone or some company to help us. Thankfully, we were already in touch with the Zentoku Foundation. They’ve been a foundation that’s been helping us for a couple of years now,” she said. “Mark Nakakihara, the president of Zentoku, just was like, what do you need?” They needed money to keep the paper going somewhere else. Jodie Chiemi Ching, also a former Herald editor, and now one of three San Times co-editors, updated, “We’ve raised a lot of money to help us sustain for maybe throughout the year with stories periodically coming in.” The third co-editor is Summer Nakaishi, also a former Herald editor. The Hawaii Herald’s new name is now the San Times. It will only be online. “Our logo has the kanji character for ‘three’ and it is mainly the voices of the sansei, yonsei, and gosei. In English, it’s the third, fourth and fifth generations of Japanese descendants. And that includes our local Okinawans, for a proud ichinanchu like myself. Ethnic community papers have their ears closer to the ground than the mainstream,” said Ching. The silver lining is the Herald can present video stories now that it’s online. “We can integrate video and oral histories and give it a more multidimensional look. It’s a multimedia resource that’s more accessible and will go on for future generations,” added Ching. They need ongoing donations and support. Nemoto Jay asks that you also follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

 

The Video That Introduced San Times – Produced By Mark Ganialongo

¹Reported online at https://www.civilbeat.org/beat/the-hawaii-herald-to-shutter-operations-dec-1/

²Reported online at https://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii-herald-newspaper-reopens-as-the-san-times/article_29b353ca-4259-11ef-b500-57bbc67cfd98.html

For information on other movies in development by Yellow Brick Studio / LegacyVision Films click HERE.