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Jeepney Press / Dennis Sun
by Dennis Sun / Editorial YOMU
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The very first issue of Jeepney Press #01 January-February 2003
Wow! Has it been that long already? 20 years. 2 decades.
The year was 2003. It was the year when the towering Roppongi Hills opened in Tokyo; the year when the PCCC (Philippine Community Coordinating Council), an umbrella organization of Filipino groups in the Kansai region was formed; the year when the monorail in Okinawa was launched; and in the world, it was the year when Saddam Hussein was captured, thus ending the Iraq-Kuwait war in the Middle East. And, it was during the cold winter of this year that Jeepney Press was born.
Starting as a 12-page print publication with a circulation of 5,000 copies distributed mostly in Tokyo and the major cities of Japan where there is a big population of Filipinos, Jeepney Press demonstrated itself to be unique among the other Filipino publications during that time. There were no news about politics, and no gossips about your favorite showbiz personalities. We put more weight on content and substance rather than commercial advertising.
Published once every two months, Jeepney Press is a non-profit and non-commercial publication run by a staff of volunteers (doctors, professors, engineers, directors, social workers, artists, musicians, journalists, etc) working towards making a unified diverse and responsible Filipino society in Japan by promoting community involvement to issues concerning Filipinos in Japan. Jeepney Press encourages constructive, positive, educational and inspirational dialogues among Filipinos. It ventures to share knowledge and resources, strengthen existing relations and forge new ones with various Filipino communities all around Japan.
Now, after more than 200 issues and 20 years, after being transformed into the digital format, and while still being true to our original vision, we have stretched further our reach into the global audience, sharing to those outside of Japan how we celebrate the journeys of Filipinos here.
Every year is always a new year and we just continue to move on. Move forward. It has been a tough journey but every year is always a time to learn new things and grow. And so, the journey moves on. Tuloy lang ang pasada!
Dennis Sun / Creative Director & Editor-in-chief
