The Legendary Nisei Racers
Nisei hot rod racers of the 1920s and 1930s made their mark in a racing world surprisingly free of discrimination.
California's Murdoc Dry Lake was the place to be for the hot-rodders of the 1920s and 1930s. On the dry, flat lakebeds that stretched for endless miles stripped-down Fords and Chevys would be pimped for showcasing while adrenaline junky hot rod drivers would compete for the fastest clocked speeds.
Here is where the legends of racing were born, including famed Nisei racers like Yam Oka, Tsuneo "Tunney" Shigekuni, Frank Morimoto, Danny Sakai, and Takeo "Chickie" Hirashima. But like the thick dusts of the lakebeds, the stories of their record setting speed times and their innovatively modified roadsters have largely been swept away and forgotten, until recently.
From his earliest childhood memories, Tom Shigekuni, 77, of Torrance, Calif. recalls his older brother Tunney always being surrounded by his beloved roadsters and his racing buddies like the renowned Vic Edelbrock, Sr. and Bobby Meeks. As a 10-year-old kid Tom would follow his older brother around their garage as Tunney worked on his cars and modified his engines.
"I was always there watching and listening. I learned a whole lot about engines, about racing. Tunney was always around Vic Edelbrock, Sr. ... they did everything together," he recalled. "I don't know what it was [about racing] but Tunney was always involved with the sport."
Nisei Mas Okumura, 87, idolized the legendary Nisei racers of the 1920s and 1930s and he himself headed to Murdoc Dry Lake shortly after Word War II. With his partner Shoji Yamada they would set a number of records in the late-50s with their 1944 Ford V-8 in the gas coupe and sedan class. The Russetta Timing Association clocked their highest speeds at 122 miles per hour.
"When I got out of the service I hopped-up every engine I could get my hands on. I've worked on a Model-T since I was 12. I got my driver's license when I was 14 years old," said Mas with a chuckle from his home in Mar Vista, Calif. "I've always liked mechanical things."
Writer Tom Madigan spent over eight years researching the story of the Nisei racers and recently published his piece in The Rodder's Journal. A former editor of Hot Rod magazine, Madigan came across their story while researching another book. He was amazed to see so many Japanese names in the racing record books from the 1930s.
"I was very interested in the internment. I tried to visualize losing everything, instantly." For the Nisei racers, "one day they're on the dry lakes just normal guys racing then the following day they're the enemy," he said.
In their day-to-day worlds the Nisei racers faced the anti-Japanese sentiment prevalent in those early days but on the dry lake beds they were treated as equals. Fellow racers didn't care about the color of their skin, only that they had the cars and the speed to compete with the best.
And in an era where people were very conscious of race, many of the JA racers were members of prestigious racing clubs like the Road Runners, the Throttlers, and the Screwdrivers Club.
"The Nisei had no problems getting into the best racing clubs," said Tom, whose brother Tunney was a member of the Road Runners. "Bad things were happening but this group of people was supportive of the Nisei. All that mattered was racing. They didn't care what you looked like."
"There was no prejudice on the dry lakes. Everyone raced and everyone was friends. JA racers were just good racers. If you're a racer, you're a racer. At the dry lakes that's all they cared about," said Madigan.
With the world facing the prospect of another World War, the U.S. military took over Murdoc Dry Lake and the racers were banned from racing in the area in November 1941. With the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor the following month the JA community would be forever changed.
Tom, Tunney, and their family were rounded up like the other JAs and sent off to WWII internment camps. The Shigekuni family would end up in Amache, Colorado.
Still, the racers did their best to stick together.
Vic Sr. watched helplessly as his good friends were sent off first to the Santa Anita Assembly Center and then Amache. On one of his visits to Santa Anita, Vic offered to take care of and maintain Tunney's precious 1941 Mercury racing engine. When the Shigekuni brothers came home after four years, the engine was still as good as new.
"During the whole evacuation time [Vic] took care of it. He agreed to turn [the engine] every few weeks or so," said Tom.
Some of the Nisei racers sacrificed their lives and volunteered to serve in the U.S. military during WWII. Nisei racers Yam Oka, Hirashima, and Morimoto were a part of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit for its size in U.S. military history.
At Morimoto's funeral this past May, his grandson Andy Seshiki spoke about his grandfather's love of cars and racing.
"As a young man in the early 1930s, his passions were fast cars and his girlfriend Yuri. He owned a 1927 Ford Model-T, which he worked on at every opportunity. He modified the engine in order to earn bragging rights for the fastest hot rod on the Murdoc Dry Lake race beds ... Even in his later years, his lifelong love of cars remained strong. At the age of 87, grandpa purchased a hybrid Honda and joined an electric car club."
After the War many of the same Nisei faces could be seen racing on the dry lakes and the newly popular circular tracks of Southern California. Racers Oka and his brother Harry, Fred Ige and Hirashima simply continued where they had left off.
The Nisei drivers also furthered their racing careers. Hirashima would use his masterful skills as a mechanic to earn his way to an Indy 500 win. In 1960, he was the crew chief for driver Jim Rathmann when he took the coveted prize. Hirashima passed away in 1980 and was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1998.
Nisei racer Larry Shinoda became a renowned car designer, helping to create the 1963 Corvette Stingray, the z/28 Camaro and the Boss 302 Mustang. Many today may not know Shinoda by name but they know his cars.
Mas Okumura kept up his interest in racing after serving in the Military Intelligence Service during WWII. As soon as he came home he hopped-up his four-cylinder Ford Model-A and headed to Murdoc Dry Lake, winning a number of first place finishes.
Eventually, Okumura turned his love of cars into a business and opened up his own wheel alignment shop in Santa Monica, Calif. - "Samo Wheel & Brake" - and his son continues to operate it today. Whenever a hot rod is brought in, his son calls him to come and help work on it.
"We were all comrades [on the Dry Lakes]. We were just buddies," said Mas about his racing days. "There was no discrimination during all those years. It was just a bunch of good guys."
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