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Matt Alt

@mattalt.bsky.social
4.3K followers 195 following 790 posts

Tokyo-based writer, localizer, cultural consultant. Author of Pure Invention, Yokai Attack, and more. www.mattalt.com blog.pureinventionbook.com linktr.ee/mattalt

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Reposted by Matt Alt
Boaz • My Turn /A Space @myturnaspace.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
@mattalt.bsky.social in his Tokyoscope podcast made a point that Asia including Japan where he resides, are more open to use AI, & one reason is that the people are not being affected by data center constructions. Less and less it looks like the problem is the technology but what & who's behind it.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Well, we never got the FM Towns so if it came out in your neck of the woods, I think you came out on top!
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Every. Single. Day. But I'm weird.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Definitely not vaporware!
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I hope you get to experience the joys of Todd's Adventures in Slime World some day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz6m...
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Saw some kid’s all-black Switch sitting on a table and did a double take thinking it was a Lynx.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Indeed. And those Jump reader response cards are like an algorithm with a soul!
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This is a great memorial to a profoundly influential creator. But it leaves out perhaps the most important element in Takahashi's success: the Shonen Jump system, which pairs artists with editors and provides them with realtime reader feedback. This "paper algorithm" can and does shape megahits.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
No, those were early international co- productions. The OVA boom launched (in part) because studios were flush with cash from foreign productions, which allowed them to do some innovative new stuff for the domestic market.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
On the other hand, money from abroad is great. The direct to video anime boom of the Eighties, and major theatrical releases like Akira, were nourished by the huge sums American toy companies poured into Japanese studios to create Saturday morning cartoons.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Let the artists make their mistakes.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I've said it before and I'll say it again: if Japan's creators/publishers/studios don’t want to kill the golden goose, they’ll ignore the foreign markets altogether while they work, and let the suits worry about issues abroad. japantoday.com/category/ent...
japantoday.com
Japan anime industry weighs global appeal against creative freedom
Japan's anime industry is enjoying unprecedented success overseas, but its growing global reach is also creating a dilemma as cultural differences, local laws and social media criticism increasingly c...
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I was stuck on the train with a dead phone and got a serious case of secondhand doomscroll syndrome
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Very revealing dive into the government’s plan to make anime/manga/games a pillar of the economy. Japan already is a “story superpower.” If it wants to stay that way leaders need to tackle structural problems rather than pray for AI magic to fix them. annatachibana.substack.com/p/japan-want...
annatachibana.substack.com
Japan wants to be a “story superpower.” Can the people who make the stories afford to keep making them?
I opened one ministry's plan to make anime and games a 20-trillion-yen export. The people who make them were mostly in the footnotes.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Glad to hear it! And where the book ends, I pick up at blog.pureinventionbook.com
blog.pureinventionbook.com
Matt Alt's Pure Invention | Substack
Dispatches from the front lines of Japanese pop culture. Click to read Matt Alt's Pure Invention, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
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Reposted by Matt Alt
Mark Goodrich @markgoodrich.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Only 3 chapters in but Pure Invention by @mattalt.bsky.social alread my feels like it will be my favourite non-fiction book I read this year. The cover is superb as well.
Cover of Pure Invention by Matt Alt in 3 colours of pale red, white and black divided into panels like a manga with aspects of Japanese pop culture in each one.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
And the yen the next global currency!!!
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
It was going to be the next corporate power, the next tech power, the next robot power. Funny how quickly all of that came to a dead stop. Really makes you think about AI hype today.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
We hereby award you this medal!
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
🙏
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
RIP Toyohiro Akiyama, whose jaunt to space and back down to Earth mirrored the rise and fall of Japan’s Bubble economy. The 1990 trip could also be considered humanity's most ambitious livestreaming stunt. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/the-salary...
blog.pureinventionbook.com
The Salaryman Spaceman
A rocket-powered rise and fall that mirrored Japan’s own
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It was an honor to blurb Ryuichi Sakamoto’s book, and a shock to see my name alongside William Gibson, Pedro Almodóvar, and more. Sakamoto did more than put Japanese pop on the map; the aural bridges he built between Far East and West transformed the way the world listens to music. amzn.to/4AxhhpW
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Let’s play “spot Nakano from Shinjuku”!
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A few years back, I wrote about Tokyo’s legendary Bubble-era disco scene. One of said discos was Turia, which featured an interior designed by Syd Mead, of “Blade Runner” fame. A concept painting recently surfaced and it is glorious. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/gal-den-of...
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
static.klipy.com
G.I. Joe's Duke: Way To Go!
ALT: G.I. Joe's Duke: Way To Go!
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Lots to cover on this latest episode of the Pure TokyoScope podcast with @patrickmacias.bsky.social and myself. A snap monster election to determine the next great kaiju; Japan being so cool that drug mules are willing to go for free; and heaps of Sizzlean©! www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...
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Reposted by Matt Alt
Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The Japanese government's attempts to transform anime, manga, games, and films into the nation's economic engine rely on a lot of wishful thinking. I sat down with the Institute of Geoeconomics to discuss how to build a fantasy-industrial complex: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxlo...
youtube.com
Japan's Content Industry and Geoeconomics: What Comes After Soft Power?
YouTube video by 地経学研究所 / Institute of Geoeconomics
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Reposted by Matt Alt
Patrick Macias @patrickmacias.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Now it can be sold! The Wicked Priest Collection is available now from Arrow Video! The 5 film set features a pair of extras featuring @mattalt.bsky.social and me! www.arrowvideo.com/p/blu-ray/wi...
youtube.com
Wicked Priest | Official Trailer
YouTube video by Arrow Video
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Agreed. Unfortunately, I worry that politicians are paying more attention to the eye-popping sums the big hits make, than they are the subcultural “soil” that sustains the content industry as a whole.
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Reposted by Matt Alt
John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Love listening to @mattalt.bsky.social talk about this kinda stuff, if you haven't checked out Pure Invention, you really should (and obviously peep this video first)
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Aww thanks man
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Thanks for making it happen!
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Reposted by Matt Alt
Kyle McLain @farmboyinjapan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I'm finally able share my big project at work! While I don't appear on camera, this video was my idea, I pitched this idea internally at my think tank, got together the necessary speakers, and worked to refine the scope and focus of the conversation. I'm thrilled to share this video with everyone!
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The Japanese government's attempts to transform anime, manga, games, and films into the nation's economic engine rely on a lot of wishful thinking. I sat down with the Institute of Geoeconomics to discuss how to build a fantasy-industrial complex: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxlo...
youtube.com
Japan's Content Industry and Geoeconomics: What Comes After Soft Power?
YouTube video by 地経学研究所 / Institute of Geoeconomics
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
A packed Pure Tokyscope podcast just dropped! Join @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I to say sayonara to the Gundam Unicorn statue at Odaiba; sayonara to hacked data at Mandarake; and sayonara to the collection of a controversial Thai pioneer of tokusatsu cinema. www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Let us not forget the FIRST time the White House crossed paths with Japanese video games
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
It is pretty wild seeing someone who launched his entire political career based on Japan-bashing have to rely so heavily on Japanese content to appeal to his base.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Japan has had some success in petitioning foreign governments to take down pirate sites. But what do you do when the pirate IS a foreign government? blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/the-presid...
blog.pureinventionbook.com
The President’s New Arcade
Apparently, Making America Great Again requires Japanese video games
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Reposted by Matt Alt
Paul Nadeau @pauljnadeau.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Polisci's disinterest in Gamergate and gamer culture is leaving the field critically unable to understand the current moment
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
One of the biggest threats to Japan's fantasy-industrial complex is that bad actors can co-opt your nation's content for propaganda purposes. The latest bad actor is the White House, which is using Sega's logo, Sonic's music, and more to promote their ragebait arcade:
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Join @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I for the latest episode of the Pure Tokyoscope podcast for a sneak peek at the new Chiikawa movie, a lookback at the late, great voice actor Peter Cullen of Optimus Prime fame, and more. www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Check out the essay I linked to!
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Another interesting observation, I think
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
There's also that classic scene from "Your Name," where the girl-in-the-boy's-body cycles through watashi/boku/ore in front of his friends.
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This is a really interesting take by @hirokoyoda.bsky.social, in her essay about the differences between Japanese and English pronouns. blog.hirokoyoda.com/p/infinite-me
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
The Pure Tokyoscope podcast, hosted by @patrickmacias.bsky.social and myself, is your one-stop shop for all things pop Japan. In the latest, we journey to Nakano, Tokyo, to see what might be the greatest collection of yokai ephemera ever auctioned: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...
tokyoscope.blog
Pure TokyoScope Podcast 176: Yokai Attack at Nakano Broadway!
Patrick Macias and Matt Alt bring you pop culture direct from Japan!
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
We came so close with Sony’s Qrio!
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
💯
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Whatever happened to ASIMO? blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/did-japan-...
blog.pureinventionbook.com
Did Japan stop dreaming of androids?
Humanoid robots are all the rage. Why aren’t more of them Japanese?
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Matt Alt @mattalt.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Welcome!
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