The Pacific Citizen is an Asian Pacific American semi-monthly national newspaper. Starting in 1929, the Pacific Citizen has been published by the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). JACL is the United States’ oldest and largest APA civil rights organization. The goal of the Pacific Citizen is to provide the community with APA stories and opinions. The newspaper was originally called the Nikkei Shimin (Japanese American Citizen) and it was based in San Francisco, CA.
With World War II and the internment of Japanese Americans, the Pacific Citizen was moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. Many articles are focused on hearings held on the topic of Japanese relocation and incarceration. Following WWII, the Pacific Citizen returned to the west coast moving operations to Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. Presently, the newspaper remains at that location.