The Salaryman Spaceman

A rocket-powered rise and fall that mirrored Japan’s own

22 hrs ago • Matt Alt

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When Pop Becomes Policy

A video discussion at the Institute of Geoeconomcs in Toyko

Sep 16 • Matt Alt

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The President’s New Arcade

Apparently, Making America Great Again requires Japanese video games

Sep 9 • Matt Alt

14

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August 2026

Did Japan stop dreaming of androids?

Humanoid robots are all the rage. Why aren’t more of them Japanese?

Aug 26 • Matt Alt

29

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Toy Story

A farewell to Katsushi Murakami, an architect of Japan's giant robots -- and soft power

Aug 10 • Matt Alt

42

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July 2026

Fight! Cool Japanese Bureaucrat

Meet the New Cool Japan Strategy: same as the old Cool Japan strategy

Jul 6 • Matt Alt

40

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June 2026

Make Japan Uncool Again

Japan's best pop culture isn't "cool." It's dorky, weird, and out-there.

Jun 26 • Matt Alt

43

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May 2026

Hug of death

Will Japan's content industries survive the government's efforts to promote them?

May 28 • Matt Alt

41

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April 2026

Press any button to continue

The government's quixotic quest to make games a pillar of the Japanese economy

Apr 30 • Matt Alt

31

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Disorganized Religion

How Japanese spirituality sheds light on American faith

Apr 10 • Matt Alt

39

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So you want to be a manga millionaire

The principles behind the success of Japan's biggest hits

Apr 2 • Matt Alt

42

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February 2026

Japan's AI Affinity

The reasons many Westerners despise AI explain why Japanese don't

Feb 22 • Matt Alt

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