“Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community,” on view from July 31 through Nov. 12, chronicles the central roles Japanese Americans have played in countless car scenes throughout Southern California. Presented by the Japanese American National Museum and curated by cultural scholar and writer, Oliver Wang, it will debut at Art Center College of Design’s Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery on South Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena.
A companion book called “Cruising J-Town: Japanese American Car Culture in Los Angeles,” authored by Wang and published by Angel City Press, will be released on Aug. 5. It traces the history of the Japanese American community alongside the development of the car — from the earliest days of the automobile.
Through previously untold stories, Wang, a Cal State Long Beach sociology professor, reveals how a community in a state of constant transition and growth used cars as a literal vehicle for their creativity, dreams, and quest for freedom.
In the book’s introduction, Wang writes that growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, he wasn’t much of a “car guy.” He sits down to chat about how someone who doesn’t profess a passion for cars ended up writing a book and curating an exhibition about them, what he learned from the hundreds of interviews he conducted, and what he hopes readers take away from it…