Matt Alt

"A Century in Sound," the latest documentary by @nickdwyer.bsky.social of "Diggin in the Carts" fame, needs backers. This is a beautiful look at Japanese history and culture through the lens of listening bars, and hugely worthy of your support. Kickstarter here! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ace...

Episode 181 of the PURE TOKYOSCOPE Podcast is live! This time, @mattalt.bsky.social and I go to Nakano, #Tokyo, for an incredible auction of #Godzilla goods, only to run afoul of #Japan’s beer cartel! Listen now at www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

The latest episode of the Pure Tokyoscope podcast is here! Join @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I for a preview of the upcoming Godzilla auction at Mandarake: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

My latest essay, for Art Basel, takes a look at the recent boom for manga exhibitions at museums and art galleries abroad. It might surprise you to hear that this treatment would have shocked Japanese citizens even just a few decades ago. www.artbasel.com/stories/japa...

Never forget: this is how Americans saw anime fans just ten years ago.

Move fast and break things? Japan prefers to move slow and make things -- and the world loves their products all the more. The lesson? No matter how "smart" AI gets, respect, responsibility, taste, and patience aren't the kind of things you can automate -- ever. fortune.com/2026/10/18/a...

TIL that during the height of Japan’s bubble era economy in 1989, my area of Tokyo opened a (I’m assuming unlicensed) “Batman Amusement Building”, which was essentially a 7-floor arcade. It’s billed as “trendier than Shibuya, more exciting than Roppongi, the building is full of American amusement”.

It has been a lot of fun to tag along on Hiroko’s alpine adventures. Sometimes, as we read her great-grandfather’s stories and pictures, it feels as though we have our own time machine. blog.hirokoyoda.com/p/in-the-foo...

If you run -- even casually -- I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I don't race but still found the advice & anecdotes really helpful. I had the chance to read a preview, and preorders for the official revised edition are up now. 8020books.com/product/50-w...

Episode 180 of the PURE TOKYOSCOPE Podcast is live! This time, @mattalt.bsky.social and I discuss Shibuya’s latest war on Halloween, Toys “R” Us’ unlikely partnership with Don Quijote, and my recent whirlwind trip to the UK! Listen to the full episode now at: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

My latest essay, for Art Basel, takes a look at the recent boom for manga exhibitions at museums and art galleries abroad. It might surprise you to hear that this treatment would have shocked Japanese citizens even just a few decades ago. www.artbasel.com/stories/japa...

Goodbye "bad Halloween," hello the unholy fusion of Don Quixote and Toys R Us, on the latest episode of the Pure Tokyoscope podcast with @patrickmacias.bsky.social and myself! www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Haruki Murakami lost out on his latest chance for a Nobel Prize in Literature. But does it really matter? We're all living in Murakami's world now. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/a-wild-pri...

@mattalt.bsky.social in his Tokyoscope podcast made a point that Asia including Japan where he resides, are more open to use AI, & one reason is that the people are not being affected by data center constructions. Less and less it looks like the problem is the technology but what & who's behind it.

Every. Single. Day. But I'm weird.

Saw some kid’s all-black Switch sitting on a table and did a double take thinking it was a Lynx.

This is a great memorial to a profoundly influential creator. But it leaves out perhaps the most important element in Takahashi's success: the Shonen Jump system, which pairs artists with editors and provides them with realtime reader feedback. This "paper algorithm" can and does shape megahits.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if Japan's creators/publishers/studios don’t want to kill the golden goose, they’ll ignore the foreign markets altogether while they work, and let the suits worry about issues abroad. japantoday.com/category/ent...

I was stuck on the train with a dead phone and got a serious case of secondhand doomscroll syndrome

Very revealing dive into the government’s plan to make anime/manga/games a pillar of the economy. Japan already is a “story superpower.” If it wants to stay that way leaders need to tackle structural problems rather than pray for AI magic to fix them. annatachibana.substack.com/p/japan-want...

Only 3 chapters in but Pure Invention by @mattalt.bsky.social alread my feels like it will be my favourite non-fiction book I read this year. The cover is superb as well.

RIP Toyohiro Akiyama, whose jaunt to space and back down to Earth mirrored the rise and fall of Japan’s Bubble economy. The 1990 trip could also be considered humanity's most ambitious livestreaming stunt. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/the-salary...

It was an honor to blurb Ryuichi Sakamoto’s book, and a shock to see my name alongside William Gibson, Pedro Almodóvar, and more. Sakamoto did more than put Japanese pop on the map; the aural bridges he built between Far East and West transformed the way the world listens to music. amzn.to/4AxhhpW

Let’s play “spot Nakano from Shinjuku”!

A few years back, I wrote about Tokyo’s legendary Bubble-era disco scene. One of said discos was Turia, which featured an interior designed by Syd Mead, of “Blade Runner” fame. A concept painting recently surfaced and it is glorious. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/gal-den-of...

Lots to cover on this latest episode of the Pure TokyoScope podcast with @patrickmacias.bsky.social and myself. A snap monster election to determine the next great kaiju; Japan being so cool that drug mules are willing to go for free; and heaps of Sizzlean©! www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

The Japanese government's attempts to transform anime, manga, games, and films into the nation's economic engine rely on a lot of wishful thinking. I sat down with the Institute of Geoeconomics to discuss how to build a fantasy-industrial complex: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxlo...

Now it can be sold! The Wicked Priest Collection is available now from Arrow Video! The 5 film set features a pair of extras featuring @mattalt.bsky.social and me! www.arrowvideo.com/p/blu-ray/wi...

Love listening to @mattalt.bsky.social talk about this kinda stuff, if you haven't checked out Pure Invention, you really should (and obviously peep this video first)

I'm finally able share my big project at work! While I don't appear on camera, this video was my idea, I pitched this idea internally at my think tank, got together the necessary speakers, and worked to refine the scope and focus of the conversation. I'm thrilled to share this video with everyone!

The Japanese government's attempts to transform anime, manga, games, and films into the nation's economic engine rely on a lot of wishful thinking. I sat down with the Institute of Geoeconomics to discuss how to build a fantasy-industrial complex: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxlo...

A packed Pure Tokyscope podcast just dropped! Join @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I to say sayonara to the Gundam Unicorn statue at Odaiba; sayonara to hacked data at Mandarake; and sayonara to the collection of a controversial Thai pioneer of tokusatsu cinema. www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Let us not forget the FIRST time the White House crossed paths with Japanese video games

It is pretty wild seeing someone who launched his entire political career based on Japan-bashing have to rely so heavily on Japanese content to appeal to his base.

Japan has had some success in petitioning foreign governments to take down pirate sites. But what do you do when the pirate IS a foreign government? blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/the-presid...

Polisci's disinterest in Gamergate and gamer culture is leaving the field critically unable to understand the current moment

One of the biggest threats to Japan's fantasy-industrial complex is that bad actors can co-opt your nation's content for propaganda purposes. The latest bad actor is the White House, which is using Sega's logo, Sonic's music, and more to promote their ragebait arcade:

Join @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I for the latest episode of the Pure Tokyoscope podcast for a sneak peek at the new Chiikawa movie, a lookback at the late, great voice actor Peter Cullen of Optimus Prime fame, and more. www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

This is a really interesting take by @hirokoyoda.bsky.social, in her essay about the differences between Japanese and English pronouns. blog.hirokoyoda.com/p/infinite-me

The Pure Tokyoscope podcast, hosted by @patrickmacias.bsky.social and myself, is your one-stop shop for all things pop Japan. In the latest, we journey to Nakano, Tokyo, to see what might be the greatest collection of yokai ephemera ever auctioned: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Whatever happened to ASIMO? blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/did-japan-...

Localizers are the ones who give franchises their linguistic "faces" abroad, and they've long been undervalued by the publishers who benefit from their work. Hats off to Jan for using her moment to drop some truthbombs on a room full of industry insiders (and congrats on winning Best Translation!)

Loving the photo Asahi chose to illustrate their article about the government closing down the Cool Japan fund:

Let's make this a wicked city! My copy of the new 5-film Wicked Priest Collection from Arrow Video has arrived in #Japan! @mattalt.bsky.social and I contributed a pair of video extras to the set! DIG 'EM! www.arrowvideo.com/p/blu-ray/wi...

I made this in 2006 but it bears repeating again. Here's a map of all the major super robot bases in Japan:

Voltron. Kamen Rider. Power Rangers. Chogokin and Godaikin. If you don't know Katsushi Murakami, who passed last week, you can't talk Japanese design. His aesthetics redefined play around the globe. @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I discuss his legacy here! www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Bidding farewell to a titan of toy design. If you played with robots in the Seventies and Eighties, you probably know his handiwork. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/toy-story

Peak Japan: a Canadian dispensary using the name of the capital city of a nation where cannabis is illegal