[3] During this period, Yoda met Edward Ugast, then general manager in East Asia of 20th Century Fox.

Yoda abandoned his studies and immigrated to the United States, whereupon he enrolled at University of Southern California in August 1958 with aspirations of becoming a film producer.

[2][4] In summer 1961, William White, a USC faculty member, received a call from Joe Pasternak of MGM seeking a young man who could speak English and Japanese.

[9] In the cast reunion extra feature on the McHale's Navy first season DVD set, Edson Stroll (Virgil in the series) stated that Yoda began primarily using his middle name of James and worked as a Toyota vice-president.

[11][12] In 1965, Yoda headed the panel of judges that chose the Nisei Week Festival Queen at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.