How to become a Japanese DJ in just a few easy steps

This is a really odd translation of this new term for an extremely hot day. The NYT renders 酷暑日 (kokushobi) as “cruel heat day.” But that implies an agency that weather cannot have. “Brutally hot day” is a better localization.

The newest episode of Pure Tokyoscope is a gas gas gas as @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I plunge into the two hottest drops in Japanese pop culture of the moment: the new remakes of “The Human Vapor” and “Ghost in the Shell”: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Pure TokyoScope Podcast 173: The Human Vapor! New Ghost in the Shell Anime! Totally Insane Toy Collections!

Patrick Macias and Matt Alt bring you pop culture direct from Japan!

tokyoscope.blog

Licca-chan, which outsells Barbie in Japan, is set to make a comeback to the US this year. Licca-chan was designed by the woman who worked on the very first Barbie dolls, which for some reason Mattel doesn’t want you to know were made entirely in Japan. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/an-america...

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.

blog.pureinventionbook.com

This is a really cool site that compiles Japanese station melodies, and profiles the musician who made some of the most famous ones. The 1989 ones really brought back memories. sheets.works/data-viz/bel...

Station Melodies of Greater Tokyo

A listening museum documenting the departure melodies (hassha melodies) of Greater Tokyo's train stations. Archives 2,400+ stations, from the Yamanote loop to the Chichibu peaks.

sheets.works

Episode 172 of the PURE TOKYOSCOPE Podcast is live! This time, @mattalt.bsky.social and I talk about the life and times of the late showbiz legend Akihiro Miwa. Also: Ultra problems for Ultraman and Doraemon, plus Japan’s ice cream cartel! Listen now at: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Pure TokyoScope Podcast 172: Goodbye Akihiro Miwa, a Japanese Showbiz Legend!

Patrick Macias and Matt Alt bring you pop culture direct from Japan!

tokyoscope.blog

Now that the Japanese government has officially registered “Japanese tea” as a regional brand, it’s time to revive the debate about whether the same should be done for anime and manga, which are arguably even MORE copied globally. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/anime-is-t...

Anime is the Champagne of Japan

Ersatz "anime" abounds. It's time to make "Japanese Anime" a protected designation.

blog.pureinventionbook.com

On the latest episode of Pure Tokyoscope, @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I reminisce about the legendary Miwa Akihiro, who passed away last week. Why isn’t “Black Lizard” out on Blu-Ray?!? www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

I was in the ABC Radio National lobby when this was recorded LOL!!!!

Hiroko Yoda@hirokoyoda.bsky.social · 4w ago

I'm on Australia's ABC Radio! I spoke to @natashamitchell.bsky.social about Japan’s unique approach to blending secular and sacred, and how it can help you navigate complicated times. It was recorded at the 2026 Melbourne Writers Festival; now you can listen here! www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

The last of the 10 most important books that have inspired my career is also the most recent. Eight Million Ways to Happiness by @hirokoyoda.bsky.social has inspired me more than I can express in words. I wish I could write like her. I recommended this to the El Paso Catholic Bishop a few weeks ago.

I checked in on the New Cool Japan Strategy. It isn’t going too well. blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/meet-the-n...

Fight! Japanese Bureaucrat

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

blog.pureinventionbook.com

This week marks the sixtieth anniversary of the debut of a global classic: Ultraman! To celebrate, I interviewed one of my childhood heroines, Hiroko Sakurai, who played Akiko Fuji of the Science Patrol. Read it here! allabout-japan.com/en/article/1...

For Every Ultraman . . . There's an Ultra Woman | All About Japan

In the classic sixties TV show Ultraman, Hiroko Sakurai played Akiko Fuji, the female lead to the super-sized superhero. In an exclusive interview marking the show's 60th anniversary, she shares her m...

allabout-japan.com

So let’s take a little look under the hood of the New Cool Japan Strategy: blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/meet-the-n...

Meet the New Cool Japan Strategy

Same as the old Cool Japan strategy

blog.pureinventionbook.com

Hear me out. It's time for an UNCOOL Japan Fund. Who's in? blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/make-japan...

Make Japan Uncool Again

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

blog.pureinventionbook.com

On this Very Specual Episode of Pure Tokyoscope, @patrickmacias.bsky.social discuss Princess Leia and Obi-Wan doing the “fent fold” on Nakano Broadway. www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Episode 171 of the PURE TOKYOSCOPE Podcast is live! This time, it’s a real-life Toy Story as @mattalt.bsky.social and I ransack the post-apocalyptic remains of Nakano Broadway in search of kaiju and robots. Listen now to the full episode at: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Pure TokyoScope Podcast 171: My Posse's On (Nakano) Broadway

Patrick Macias and Matt Alt bring you pop culture direct from Japan!

tokyoscope.blog

Can you spot the shopkeeper in this pic taken by my friend, the photographer Irwin Wong? It’s a perfect example of the cutter spaces I wrote about several years ago for @aeon.co. aeon.co/essays/the-l...

The latest PURE TOKYOSCOPE is here! Are the Skull Tanks coming for Cool Japan? Join @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I to find out. www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

If you needed any further evidence of just how entrenched institutional sexism is in Japan, look no further than the government tying itself in knots trying to do anything rather than let a princess ascend to the throne. mainichi.jp/english/arti...

32% oppose Imperial Family adoption proposal; Japan Cabinet approval flat at 51%: poll - The Mainichi

TOKYO -- Thirty-two percent of respondents to a nationwide Mainichi Shimbun opinion poll conducted on June 20 and 21 opposed a proposal to

mainichi.jp

Featuring "'Priest or Monk,' a brand new video primer on Buddhism and pop culture as depicted in the Wicked Priest films by Patrick Macias and Matt Alt"

Patrick Macias@patrickmacias.bsky.social · last mo.

WOW! The WICKED PRIEST 5-film set from Arrow Video is coming soon! Experience the bawdy, sword-slinging adventures of Tomisaburo Wakayama (Lone Wolf and Cub). Even better, this set features new video extras from me and @mattalt.bsky.social! Pre-order at: www.arrowvideo.com/p/blu-ray/wi...

Hear me out. It's time for an UNCOOL Japan Fund. Who's in? blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/make-japan...

Make Japan Uncool Again

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

blog.pureinventionbook.com

Episode 170 of the PURE TOKYOSCOPE Podcast is live! This time, Matt Alt (@mattalt.bsky.social) and I sift through the wreckage of the Cool Japan Fund as it may finally be nearing its last gasp. Also: Pokémon death drones and Voltron skull tanks! Listen now at: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Analysts in #Japan are asking why the Cool Japan Fund struggled even as #anime and #manga boomed overseas. The answer: it tried to do too much. Only 27% of investments went to media/content while lifestyle + food took larger shares. Talent shortages + unclear accountability helped sink the project

Some real food for thought in this essay by @hirokoyoda.bsky.social on the different ways in which the US and Japan are grappling with what it means to be American or Japanese: www.noahpinion.blog/p/what-defin...

What defines Japan's national identity?

A guest post by Hiroko Yoda.

noahpinion.blog

American scandals: election interference, financial fraud, sex trafficking, insurrection, war crimes, mayhem Japanese scandals: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Alleged ice-cream cartel in Japan investigated as sweltering summer looms

Six companies are suspected of colluding to use food inflation to raise the prices of their product

theguardian.com

7-11 not pulling any punches with its latest spread

I'll save you a click: Japanese convenience stores are "dark" places because a female clerk in the middle of restocking didn't want to play free Japanese conversation partner for the writer.

@patrickmacias.bsky.social and I are back for another chocolate-frosted episode of PURE TOKYOSCOPE. This time, we talk about my being dragged to a hostess club in Ginza: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

So @mattalt.bsky.social & @patrickmacias.bsky.social of ‘Pure Tokyoscope’ are back, which is cool! But I can’t be the only person whom wants the ‘8 Million Ways to Happiness’ podcast with @hirokoyoda.bsky.social ? www.amazon.co.jp/Eight-Millio...

Eight Million Ways to Happiness: Wisdom for Inspiration and Healing from the Heart of Japan

Amazon.co.jp: Eight Million Ways to Happiness: Wisdom for Inspiration and Healing from the Heart of Japan : Yoda, Hiroko: Foreign Language Books

amazon.co.jp

Matt Alt@mattalt.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Join @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I for a new episode of the Pure Tokyoscope Podcast, broadcast live from Macross City: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

This is a great essay by Patrick about why 1996 is a pivotal year in Japanese pop culture, but he’s forgetting a key moment — it’s the year @hirokoyoda.bsky.social and I met! 😄 open.substack.com/pub/patrickm...

Pokémon, Tamagotchi, and Detective Conan: How 1996 Became Japan’s Pop Culture Big Bang

Japanese pop culture news edited by Patrick Macias

open.substack.com