Cruising J-Town: Japanese American Car Culture in Los Angeles

Oliver Wang is a professor of sociology at CSU-Long Beach and the author of Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews of the San Francisco Bay Area (Duke Univ. Press, 2015). He is the curator for the Japanese American National Museum exhibition, Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community, a summer/fall 2025 exhibition about Japanese American car culture in Los Angeles. He is author and editor of the exhibition's companion book, to be published by Angel City Press. Oliver is a regular writer on music, arts and culture for outlets including NPR's All Things Considered, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Los Angeles Times, and KCET's Artbound. He has co-hosted the podcasts Pop Rocket and Heat Rocks and is currently developing a new podcast on the songs of Asian America. He currently lives in the San Gabriel Valley.