Description
Cruising J-Town: Japanese American Car Culture in Los Angeles explores how generations of Japanese Americans in Southern California shaped, and were shaped by, local automobile cultures and industries, from desert lakebeds to concrete speedways, gas stations to design centers, souped-up import tuners to humble gardening trucks. Along the way, cars and trucks became literal and figurative vehicles for Japanese American self-expression, social mobility, community identity, and much more.
Oral histories throughout the book chronicle how Japanese Americans have played vital roles in countless car scenes throughout the region. Cruising J-Town is filled with vintage and contemporary photographs, drawings, and ephemera that tell the story of a community in a state of constant transition and growth, using cars as a platform for creativity, dreams, and the enduring quest for freedom. It’s a story of generations coming together to pass down knowledge and their love of cars.
Cruising J-Town is a companion publication to a new exhibition from the Japanese American National Museum, Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community, which also chronicles how Japanese Americans have played vital roles in countless car scenes across Los Angeles.
The companion exhibition, Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community, produced by the Japanese American National Museum and hosted at ArtCenter College of Design, is on view from July 31 through November 12.
The exhibit is viewable at:
Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery
ArtCenter College of Design
1111 South Arroyo Parkway
Pasadena, CA 91105
For more information please visit: www.janm.org/exhibits/cruising-j-town
