Tokyo-based writer, localizer, cultural consultant. Author of Pure Invention, Yokai Attack, and more. https://www.mattalt.com/ https://blog.pureinventionbook.com/ https://linktr.ee/mattalt
The Japanese government is intent on creating the world’s first fantasy-industrial complex, an economy built atop content production and export. It has zero idea of the trouble it is about to get into. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/hug-of-death
Hug of deathWill Japan's content industries survive the government's efforts to promote them?blog.pureinventionbook.comHe-Man has his work cut out for him in Japan. Even Star Wars figures failed to sell here....
Patrick MaciasThe original figures were released in Japan by Takara during the first 1980s wave, but I guess kids had lots of choices back then (Transformers, Zoids, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, a billion other things).
Tekkon Kinkreet is one of the single best anime films of the 21st century.
GKIDS FilmsTheir bond is the only thing that can save their town. 💥 TEKKONKINKREET from Michael Arias and STUDIO4ºC returns to theatres May 31 & June 1 in a brand new 4K remaster to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Tickets on sale now. brnw.ch/21x1U3C
@hirokoyoda.bsky.social in @tricyclemag.bsky.social on Japan’s Shugendo, whose “practitioners worship deities different from those typically pacified by shrines or temples. Theirs are untamed and unpredictable. Theirs are the wild gods.” tricycle.org/magazine/hir...
Making Friends with MonstersA scholar’s curiosity about Japan’s mysterious Shugendo tradition leads her on an unexpected journey over mountains and through rivers.tricycle.orgJapanese language only for this radio segment! www.sbs.com.au/language/jap...
What is the tricky bit about translating manga?（Go Go Nihongo! 3）Matt Alt is a Tokyo-based American author and translator who introduces Japanese pop culture to the world through his writing of articles and books, as well as his translations of games and manga. We ...www.sbs.com.auThe Japanese government is trying to build a fantasy-industrial complex, starting with video games. Will they succeed? blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/press-any-...
Press any button to continueThe government's quixotic quest to make games a pillar of the Japanese economyblog.pureinventionbook.comWhat does Super Mario have to do with Trader Joe's? Or the karaoke machine with Liquid Death? My latest essay about pop-cultural innovation strategies from Japan is a tag-team with the Kellogg Professor David Schonthal. Read it in the Harvard Business Review: hbr.org/2026/04/how-...
How the Walkman, Game Boy, Liquid Death, and Pokémon Became Surprise HitsGlobal innovators can learn from Japan’s pop-culture playbook, which shows that breakthrough products succeed by reducing friction rather than adding features. Examples like the Walkman, Game Boy, and...hbr.orgLast year was Parco. Now it's Toei and Sanrio. It seems like every player in Japan wants a game division these days. Join @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I to talk about the gamification of the Japanese marketplace: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...
Pure TokyoScope Podcast 167: Japan's New Video Game Boom!Patrick Macias and Matt Alt bring you pop culture direct from Japan!www.tokyoscope.blogTired: “gaikokujin” Wired: “achira no kata” blog.hirokoyoda.com/p/japanese-f...
Japanese, from ElsewhereWhat does “being Japanese” really mean?blog.hirokoyoda.comJapanese? Gaikokujin? What’s it all mean, asks @hirokoyoda.bsky.social blog.hirokoyoda.com/p/japanese-f...
Japanese, from ElsewhereWhat does “being Japanese” really mean?blog.hirokoyoda.comT Magazine on "How to be Cultured": watch Bambi Also: watch Ninja Scroll www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Nakano, rare toys, and the Japanese sojourns of one Emmanuel Lewis -- all on this week's episode of PURE TOKYOSCOPE with myself and @patrickmacias.bsky.social ! www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...
Australia-based friends! @hirokoyoda.bsky.social is a featured guest of the Sydney Writers Festival. I am so proud that her solo book talk has already sold out, but you can still get tix for her panel about applying traditional wisdom to help solve modern problems: www.swf.org.au/program/fest...
Wisdom of the Ageswww.swf.org.auAustralia-based friends! I'm going to be at the Sydney Writers Festival next month. Join me on the Found in Translation panel with fellow writers Daniel Hahn, Bora Chung, and Mariana Enriquez for a deep dive into translating fiction and nonfiction. Tickets here: www.swf.org.au/program/fest...
Found in Translationwww.swf.org.auLost in the reporting about Pete Hesgeth mistaking a Pulp Fiction quote for Bible verse is that Tarantino lifted it from a Japanese movie: Karate Kiba (The Bodyguard), starring Sonny Chiba. youtu.be/8LYT4JC2dd4?...
Sonny Chiba - The BodyguardYouTube video by caioyoutu.be