No Labubus please, we're Japanese

Why a toy craze isn't finding traction in a toy-crazed country

Sep 1 • 

Matt Alt

41

2

August 2025

Inside the manga hit machine

How Weekly Shonen Jump became a global cultural juggernaut

Aug 25 • 

Matt Alt

29

Head in the Clouds

A repost from the archives about Nizo Yamamoto, who transformed anime from fantasy into an all-enveloping reality for fans.

Aug 16 • 

Matt Alt

20

5

July 2025

Chemtrails over Kyoto

What stops conspiracies from hijacking the conversation in Japan?

Jul 30 • 

Matt Alt

21

21

Pop and Populism

Japan’s far right won big in yesterday's elections. What's it mean for pop culture?

Jul 21 • 

Matt Alt

55

28

June 2025

Japanese TV vs American Reality

America turned itself into a reality show. Why didn’t Japan?

Jun 30 • 

Matt Alt

26

6

Hell is Other People

The real reason the Japanese government is so obsessed with tourism

Jun 20 • 

Matt Alt

46

30

America is burning. Why isn’t Japan?

A voice actress has a very bad week.

Jun 13 • 

Matt Alt

55

12

May 2025

Empire of Monsters

The rural fantasies of San'in that made Japan a global superstar

May 29 • 

Matt Alt

24

5

Japan doesn’t give a **** about you

And that’s the real secret to global pop-cultural success

May 17 • 

Matt Alt

133

28

Boys vs Girls, Japan vs America

Japan doesn't have a "manosphere." The reasons why might surprise.

May 2 • 

Matt Alt

81

40

April 2025

Ghibli, glibly

What does Hayao Miyazaki really think about AI?

Apr 3 • 

Matt Alt

41

4