T 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...

a man in a suit is holding a hat in the air in front of a crowd and the word hirohito is visible Alt: Emperor Hirohito (the Showa emperor) in a suit waving a hat in the air in front of a crowd. His reign from 1926-1989 is known as the Showa era in Japan.

In an episode exclusively for our $5 patrons: @jparish.bsky.social @atariarchive.org @feitclub.bsky.social @mattalt.bsky.social & @johnandersen.bsky.social dig into Japan’s early Showa era of rapid change which came to define early video games
Sign up & listen here: www.patreon.com/posts/155818...

Wisdom of the Ages

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...

Found in Translation

Australia-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...

Sonny Chiba - The Bodyguard YouTube video by caio

Lost 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 Bodyguard YouTube video by caio

Lost 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?...

I've noticed this same thing among Buddhists in the West as well. Perhaps it is inevitable when Abrahamic religions dominate the societal conversation.

Mediums and Mountain Ascetics Following her mother’s death, a writer turns to Japan’s spiritual traditions to find healing and connection.

I'm on @tricyclemag.bsky.social talking about Japan's "radically inclusive" spiritual traditions, which make room for everyone and everything. Gift link here: tricycle.org/article/shug...

News used to be better

@dkthomp.bsky.social and @ryanburge.bsky.social argue that Americans are increasingly "picking and choosing" spiritual beliefs, to their detriment. But @hirokoyoda.bsky.social's new book offers a powerful counterpoint: Japan. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/disorganiz...

And you STILL have to step over puddles of puke walking there in the mornings

Of all the weird stuff to happen in Japan’s postwar history perhaps the weirdest is Kabukicho’s transformation from yakuza den into tourist soccer-mom hangout

Pure TokyoScope Podcast 165: Japan's Dragon Ball Economy, the Death of a Shibuya Department Store Patrick Macias and Matt Alt bring you pop culture direct from Japan!

How Dragon Ball props up entire economies, on the latest Pure Tokyoscope with me and @patrickmacias.bsky.social !

www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

So you want to be a manga millionaire The principles behind the success of Japan's biggest hits

I’ve spent a lot of time studying Japan’s pop-cultural machine, and I’ve started distilling what I learned into big-picture principles that can be applied to all sorts of business-creative endeavors. Here’s the first. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/so-you-wan...

We are firmly in the era of fandoms having surpassed platforms as culture-drivers, so we’re going to see a lot more of this sort of thing in the future. Not just Vtubers, but all sorts of niches going global.

How Weekly Shōnen Jump Became the World’s Most Popular Manga Factory The magazine, home to such series as “Naruto” and “One Piece,” has created a formula for coaxing hit franchises out of young talents. The twenty-four-year-old behind “Kagurabachi” may be next.

I embedded with the creative team behind “Kagurabachi” to learn how manga are made at Weekly Shonen Jump, which is Japan’s - and the world’s - top manga magazine. You can read all about it in my feature for the New Yorker: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Never feel guilt over your idea choices! Own them! 🤣🍢🔥

No shame!!!! It was required reading back then.

「アニメ・ゲーム」助成金、クリエイターへの配分は「ゼロ」　政府の支援なぜ届かない？　経産省の資料で明らかに（1/2 ページ） | マグミクス 日本のアニメ・ゲーム産業は国際市場で急成長を遂げているにもかかわらず、2024年に経済産業省が実施した補助金はアニメ分野でわずか8.5億円、しかもクリエイターへの配分比率は「0.0%」という実態が、同省の資料で明らかになりました。身を削って作品を生み出す現場クリエイターにに支援が届かない理由は何なのでしょうか。（1/2 ページ）

A new report by METI makes it clear that of the 850 million yen in government subsidies for anime industry, actual creators receive precisely.... 0.0%.

Do better, Japanese government.

magmix.jp/post/344863

YES!

Making Out in Japanese: An Oral History of a Seminal Text A repost of an interview with the creators of a hugely influential guidebook series.

Those who studied Japanese at a certain time will remember "Making Out in Japanese," which taught you how to hit on people at bars, navigate a screaming match, provoke fistfights, or survive tearful break-ups. Here's how it came to be: blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/making-out...

Panic buying happened in 2020. It also happened during the “oil shocks” of 1979 and 1973 (US reports of the last triggered panic buying in US as well.)

The point here is that nobody in Japan actually seems to be doing this right now. I’ve seen zero reports of it on Japanese MSM or Tokyo stores.

Where the emoji 🍢🍢🍢 comes from: oden!

Sometimes history doesn't rhyme but literally repeats, and Western media reports of Japanese panic-buying toilet paper are perfect examples. The only Japanese media reports on this supposed phenomenon are sketchy online outlets that point to a report in the China Times (!?)

An excellent choice! 👾🤖📻

A great example!

Excellent curation! 👻👹👺

Spring has come to Tokyo! Join @hirokoyoda.bsky.social under the Sakura for a look at why cherry blossoms make us happy: www.instagram.com/reel/DWGUjqZ...

As America stirs up another crisis in the Middle East, @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I look back at how the "oil shocks" of 1973 and 1979 affected Japanese culture, from toilet paper riots to shrinking down of plastic toys. Listen here! www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...