Gwen Muranaka is an award-winning author, journalist, and newsroom manager with experience in both the U.S. and Japan. She was recognized in 2023 with a Distinguished Journalist Award by the Society of Professional Journalists, Greater Los Angeles chapter, and was named a 2024 Pioneer by the Nisei Week Foundation.

For over 20 years, she served as Senior Editor of The Rafu Shimpo, America’s largest bilingual Japanese/English newspaper, overseeing editorial and production, and leading its transition to hybrid operations during the COVID pandemic.

Muranaka serves on the boards of the Little Tokyo Community Council, Nichibei Fujinkai, Society of Professional Journalists LA Chapter, and Zentoku Foundation. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UCLA and attended the Art Institute and later studied Waseda University. She worked at The Japan Times as an editor, writer, and cartoonist, and was previously assistant editor of Pacific Citizen. In 2023, she published her first book, Drawing by Heart, a collection of cartoons and cross-cultural commentary. She maintains that community newspapers are the front line of information and must continually evolve to reflect the diversity of its readers.