Tom "Tsutomu" Matano is an advertising agent, automotive designer, and automotive journalist. Matano was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and continued to live in Japan until after his studies in university. He began an Analysis Engineering Major at Seikei University in Tokyo, Japan, in April 1965 and graduated in March 1969. Following his graduation, Matano moved to the United States in September 1970 via his uncle's container ship, landing himself in Seattle, then to Los Angeles, and finally New York City. In recent times, Matano works as a journalist for the Western Automotive Journalists