Matt Alt

Here @hirokoyoda.bsky.social uncovers Japanese spiritual symbols hiding in plain sight in anime shows like Jujutsu Kaisen, DanDaDan, Totoro, and even…. Gundam!?! www.instagram.com/reel/DQh7oi5...

New Pure Tokyoscope with @patrickmacias.bsky.social! Happy 50th to the anime that launched the global anime boom: Grandizer! (And happy 44th to Manu, whoever and wherever you are) www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

“Japan is like a cat” is possibly my favourite sentence from @mattalt.bsky.social in the superlative podcast interview by @unpackingjapan.bsky.social 💗💗

The Japanese newspapers are announcing that the Super Sentai series, which gave the world "Power Rangers," is drawing to a close. The culprit isn't Rita Repulsa, but rather the fact they aren't earning enough income from merchandise and theatrical releases anymore.

YouTube video by Unpacking Japan How Japanese pop culture conquered the world ft. Matt Alt

A new interview with @unpackingjapan.bsky.social, about how Japan made the modern world (and me)! www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNtp...

Yes. No flipping parked cars over.

New word alert: 迷惑ハロウィーン ("meiwaku harouin") -- "troublesome Halloween!" Plural no less. Kinshi da yo!

I went to hell last week ...and had a great time!

So @hirokoyoda.bsky.social and I went to hell last week. Literally! She wrote all about it here: blog.hirokoyoda.com/p/i-went-to-...

Would you trust these two to take you on a tour of Nakano Broadway? Tune in to the latest Pure Tokyoscope to find out: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Episode 153 of the PURE TOKYOSCOPE Podcast is live! This time, Matt Alt (mattalt.bsky.social) and I journey into the heart of darkness that is Nakano Broadway, Tokyo’s insane otaku shopping mall. Is it “still crazy after all these years”? Listen and find out: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Super Galapagos In a world driven mad by tech disruption, Japan’s having fallen behind is a superpower

Japanese pundits coined the term "Galapagos syndrome" to express how their country lost its role as global consumer electronics innovator. But in a world driven mad by tech disruption, is Japan’s having fallen behind turning into a secret super power?
blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/super-gala...

"No Kings" march in San Francisco, 10/18/2025. At last we approach the end point in Civic Center, running a gantlet of well-wishers and paparazzi.

"No Kings" march in San Francisco, 10/18/2025. Chilling on the lawn at Civic Center, and an inspirational message for the days ahead.

Finally, we turn onto McAllister and make our way to Civic Center, at which point it kind of morphs into a big sunny lawn picnic. Well done, fellow San Franciscans! (3/3)

"No Kings" march in San Francisco, 10/18/2025. We finally start moving! It turns out that flags aren't just patriotic, they also help protect your eyes from sun glare.

"No Kings" march in San Francisco, 10/18/2025. Continuing down Market Street, with more inflatable costumes and hidden dogs.

And off we go down Market Street. It was hard to tell how big the crowd was since it's all level ground, but apparently there were about 50,000 of us. (2/3)

"No Kings" march in San Francisco, 10/18/2025. Inflatable costumes and warmup rabble-rousing.

"No Kings" march in San Francisco, 10/18/2025. We spent about an hour formed up by the Ferry Building waiting for the actual walking part to start.

"No Kings" march sketch time! There are a few pages of these, so I'll share them two at a time. The first thing I saw when I showed up in downtown SF was a pair of inflatable dinosaurs, which seemed like a good omen. (1/3)

Pure TokyoScope Podcast 152: The Manga Legend Tracing Scandal! Patrick Macias and Matt Alt bring you pop culture direct from Japan!

Japan’s pop-creative elite long clustered along the Chuo Line, with illustrator Eguchi Hisashi a luminary. Does his art-tracing scandal signal the end of an era? Join @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I for a discussion on the latest Pure Tokyoscope! www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

50 Ways to Fuck Up a Marathon! (50 Ways to Fuck Up! Book 1) Buy 50 Ways to Fuck Up a Marathon! (50 Ways to Fuck Up! Book 1): Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

If you’re considering a marathon, or even getting serious about running, I can’t recommend this new book enough: www.amazon.com/50-Ways-Fuck...

Well put. It also helps that the barrier of investment is so low for manga magazines. Giving an artist a chance is a lot cheaper than (say) filming a pilot episode of something. There's probably no cheaper way to reach so many millions, and that allows for a lot more freedom of experimentation.

Join @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I on a “very special episode” of Pure Tokyoscope recorded on the floor of Tokyo’s greatest vintage toy show: Super Festival! (That’s probably a quarter million USD worth of vinyl kaiju in that shot) www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

I actually think this mindset is key to the whole enterprise. It is certainly key to anime’s authenticity.

For too long we’ve seen “Galapagos” used to denigrate Japan’s inward focus. But in a world gone crazy, it has made Japan (and things from Japan) an oasis. Stay tuned for more about this soon.

An even bigger difference is that in America, corporations own the characters and stories. In Japan, the creators do (or more accurately share ownership with the publishers.) it sets up a completely different, and I would suggest more authentic, dynamic with consumers.

Why Hollywood stars are saying “F*** anime” And why they’re right to be scared

“Very few people here in America have the balls to do what anime does,” a veteran Hollywood animation director told me.

blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/why-hollyw...

Staring at Japan’s “Fantasy Industrial Complex” at Anime NYC 2025 with Matt Alt - Unwinnable “Anime is another form of drag for the human race.”

For @unwinnable.com I explored Anime NYC with the one and only @mattalt.bsky.social.

"Anime is another form of drag for the human race... Binaries break down."

I still feel that it remains more fondly remembered by foreign anime fans abroad than it is in Japan. Perhaps not quite Voltron-vs-Golion or Cowboy Bebop levels, but still. My point is, there used to be a real schism between what hit domestically and what hit abroad. That gap has truly narrowed.

I get it -- it's a Gundam series, so fringe might be stretching -- but you just do not see Wing being celebrated here in the way series preceding and succeeding it are. You mostly hear it discussed in Japan as "the one that hit in America."

The souvenir from Japan for your father:

I regret knowing this! Thank you.

First, AI came for the writers, then the coders, then the filmmakers. Now it seems to have come for the gashapon.

Front covers of Yokai Attack and Yurei Attack.

Open page about Tsuchi-gumo, illustration on right of a giant spider.

Open book with more information about Tsuchi-gumo.

Two more books also by Hiroko and Matt are Yokai Attack and Yurei Attack. These are a really fun introduction to Japanese #yokai and ghosts.
#JapaneseFolklore
2/2

This is a great lecture. The part about how "funhouse mirror" distortions of Japanese culture can then affect Japanese culture itself reminds me of @hirokoyoda.bsky.social's writing about how the Japanese gov't is now promoting Western "ikigai" on locals. blog.hirokoyoda.com/p/ikigai-vs-...