Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
On August 30, 2025, “Cruising J-Town” exhibition curator Oliver Wang was in conversation with a range of panelists including Robert Jung, founding member of the Nikkei racing club Westside Racing Association; Tim Mochizuki, a member of the early 1980s Gardena racing club, KMA, who went onto work at Toyota Racing Development and Toyota Sales; Tod Kaneko, a contemporary of Mochizuki who was heavily involved as an import tuner and has been a longtime engineer at Mazda; Ed Loh, head of editorial at the MotorTrend Group with personal roots in the import scene of the 1990s; and Terry Yamaguchi, cofounder of the Japanese Classic Car Show, now in its twentieth year. They discussed how Japanese imports made inroads into the American car scene in the 1970s and how two generations of Japanese American and other Asian American youth contributed to the growth and interest in the import scene.
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This program was presented in conjunction with the opening of the “Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community” exhibition, presented as part of JANM on the Go from July 31 - December 14, 2025 at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. To learn more, visit janm.org/CruisingJTown
Learn more about JANM on the Go at janm.org/OnTheGo
Japanese American National Museum
100 N. Central Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
janm.org
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On August 30, 2025, “Cruising J-Town” exhibition curator Oliver Wang was in conversation with a range of panelists including Robert Jung, founding member of the Nikkei racing club Westside Racing Association; Tim Mochizuki, a member of the early 1980s Gardena racing club, KMA, who went onto work at Toyota Racing Development and Toyota Sales; Tod Kaneko, a contemporary of Mochizuki who was heavily involved as an import tuner and has been a longtime engineer at Mazda; Ed Loh, head of editorial at the MotorTrend Group with personal roots in the import scene of the 1990s; and Terry Yamaguchi, cofounder of the Japanese Classic Car Show, now in its twentieth year. They discussed how Japanese imports made inroads into the American car scene in the 1970s and how two generations of Japanese American and other Asian American youth contributed to the growth and interest in the import scene.
—
This program was presented in conjunction with the opening of the “Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community” exhibition, presented as part of JANM on the Go from July 31 - December 14, 2025 at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. To learn more, visit janm.org/CruisingJTown
Learn more about JANM on the Go at janm.org/OnTheGo
Japanese American National Museum
100 N. Central Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
janm.org
Stay connected with us!
Follow JANM on Instagram: instagram.com/jamuseum
Follow JANM on Facebook: facebook.com/jamuseum
Follow JANM on TikTok: tiktok.com/@jamuseum
Follow JANM on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jamuseum.bsky.social
Follow JANM on Threads: threads.net/@jamuseum
