Chicago Shimpo - 78 years, and just beginning… on-line.

The Chicago Shimpo’s paper publication has ended with the 6178th edition dated May 27th, 2022, and is going to move its publication activities to online at chicagoshimpo.com under the leadership of Robert W. Karr Jr.  As explained in the May 27th issue, Karr was elected in April to become the Chicago Shimpo’s eighth President and Editor-in-Chief, succeeding Yoshiko Urayama who has served in that role for 22 years, and will continue as a contributing writer. 

For generations, the Chicago Shimpo was a primary source of information for the Nikkei community and those interested in Japan in Chicago. Today, the Chicago Shimpo, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is the only Japanese-English bilingual newspaper in the Midwest, and remains an important and vital asset as a newspaper of record for activities and events related to U.S.-Japan relations.

The future of the Chicago Shimpo as an on-line public service will be developed under the leadership of Karr, who is the newspaper’s first president not of Japanese ancestry. Karr is an established leader in the U.S.-Japan business and cultural community and is most trusted and capable of fulfilling Chicago Shimpo’s future vision. “The Chicago Shimpo was started for important reasons, and those reasons are no less relevant today as when the paper was first published on November 15, 1945. The Chicago Shimpo will continue to be an important institution based in Chicago that reports and chronicles current events, maintains historical records, and promotes greater mutual respect and understanding among people of all nations,” explains Karr.

The Chicago Shimpo will continue to serve as an important resource for the community and people who are connected by heritage or have a special interest in Japan. For more about the transition of the Chicago Shimpo to an on-line publication and Karr’s background and vision, please see the Chicago Shimpo’s May 27th edition. You can also contact Robert W. Karr, Jr. at rk@chicagoshimpo.com.

For current subscribers, the on-line version of the Chicago Shimpo will require continued public support through subscriptions and donations as in the past. We kindly ask that your current subscription fee be applied to support the work required to complete the transition to on-line service later this year. For future subscriptions and donations to the Chicago Shimpo, we will be running campaigns with on-line payment capabilities on this site.

Thank you for your continued support of the Chicago Shimpo.