What Kind of News and Topics Does The North American Post Cover?

Updated

The North American Post (napost.com) is a Seattle-based Japanese-language and English community newspaper, founded in 1902 and described as the largest and oldest Japanese-language newspaper published in the Seattle area. Its coverage centers on the Nikkei (Japanese American and Japanese immigrant) community in Seattle and the wider Pacific Northwest, organized into recurring sections that range from hard community news to history, culture, food, and events. If you are looking for Seattle-area Japanese community news, immigrant history, event listings, or Nikkei cultural features, this site is aimed at you; if you need national U.S. news or general international coverage, it is not that kind of outlet.

Sections and topic areas

The homepage navigation and featured content point to these recurring categories:

  • Community – local Nikkei news and announcements, including memorial services, festivals, and organizational milestones (for example, an interfaith memorial service for Hiroshima/Nagasaki atomic bomb victims, and a Japan Festival on Vashon).
  • People – profiles and obituaries of community figures, such as "Ahead Of Her Time – Dolores Sibonga" and a remembrance of Staff Sergeant Grover Nagaji.
  • Politics and Business / Money Talk – commentary and reporting on political and economic topics relevant to the community.
  • Culture, Heritage, and History – cultural features and historical retrospectives.
  • Health – health-related coverage.
  • Food, Art & Trend – food writing and arts/trends coverage.
  • Discover Japan – Japan-focused travel and cultural content, including a "Tokyo History Walk."
  • Events / Event Calendar – a calendar of upcoming community events, plus a form to "Share your event information."
  • Classifieds – community classified advertisements.

History and Nikkei heritage content

A distinctive part of the paper's coverage is its historical focus on Seattle's Nikkei community. Recurring history features include:

  • "History of Seattle Nikkei Immigrants from 'The North American Times'"
  • "Days of the North American Post"
  • "JCCCW Omoide Story"
  • "Discover Nikkei"
  • Personal and family history pieces, such as "Yoemon Shinmasu, Life of My Grandfather in Seattle"

The site also links to the Nikkei Newspapers Digital Archive (NNDA), which supports research into the paper's own back catalog and related publications.

Events, community submissions, and other services

Beyond editorial content, the site functions as a community hub:

  • An Event Calendar lists upcoming happenings, and readers can submit their own event information.
  • Classifieds provide a place for community notices and listings.
  • Advertising options exist for print and online, including a New Year Greeting advertisement order form.
  • A Subscribe page is available for those who want the publication delivered; the site does not state pricing on the pages reviewed here, so check the subscribe page directly for current terms.

Who this coverage suits

If you want… The North American Post is a good fit
Seattle-area Japanese/Nikkei community news Yes — this is its core beat
Nikkei immigrant and family history Yes — dedicated history series and archives
Local Japanese cultural events and a calendar Yes — event listings and submissions
Japan travel/culture features Yes — "Discover Japan" and related pieces
National U.S. or general world news No — coverage is community- and region-focused

The publication traces its roots to 1902 and describes itself as the voice of the Nikkei community, so its editorial identity is tied to that community rather than to general-interest news. For anyone researching Seattle's Japanese American history or staying current on local Nikkei events, the section structure and archive links make the relevant material easy to locate.