Abstract
This study attempts to explore the social function of Japanese newspapers
in New York City. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews
mainly with twenty readers who planned to sojourn in the city. The results
show that the newspapers allowed them to live in their own culture, to confirm
their homeland is still the same, and to compare the homeland to host society.
In conclusion, the main social function is to enable the readers to imagine
‘national’ identity.
