Matt Alt's Pure Invention

Matt Alt's Pure Invention

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The most influential manga in Japan isn’t Japanese
Without Popeye, manga, anime, and video games wouldn’t exist as we know them.
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Matt Alt
15
Japan doesn’t give a **** about you
And that’s the real secret to global pop-cultural success
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Matt Alt
28
Chinpokomon Diplomacy
In a post-rule of law world, Japan bets on fantasies to see it through
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Matt Alt
7
American Shogun
Does Hollywood finally "get" Japan? Where will Season 2 of Shogun take us? And should we really be idolizing a warlord?
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Matt Alt
12
“Godzilla Minus One” Doesn't Quite Add Up
Takashi Yamazaki delivers an exquisitely rendered postwar Japan. But does his re-envisioning of history go too far?
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Matt Alt
1
Age ain't nothing but a number
How is a "hyper-aged" country like Japan also a leader in youth culture?
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Matt Alt
13
The United States of Japan
Japan didn't set out to be a pop-culture superpower. It just played out that way.
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Matt Alt
21
Boys vs Girls, Japan vs America
Japan doesn't have a "manosphere." The reasons why might surprise.
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Matt Alt
40
An American Icon, Made in Japan
Barbie has a secret: she may have been dreamed up in the US, but she came to life in a Tokyo hotel room.
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Matt Alt
11
Japan, the "most AI friendly country in the world"
The country's leaders are gung ho for AI. But will it kill the golden goose of its content industry?
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Matt Alt
7
Clash of the Titans
Understanding the Sony-Kadokawa merger
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Matt Alt
3
The “Dark Matter” of Japan’s Fantasy-Industrial Complex
The secret to being loved by everybody: taking political stances discernible to nobody
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Matt Alt
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