HLJ interview with writer Matt Alt about "How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World"

[kajnrig]

Color me surprised. This type of content was the last thing I ever expected to see from HLJ. Proper discussion starts around the 16:15 mark, but the whole thing is pretty well worth listening to. Macross even gets mentioned, however briefly.

[M'Kyuun]

I spent two years in Okinawa, and have watched any number of anime in the native Japanese, and with that meager experience with the language, to my ears Matt Alt's pronunciation just sounds all kinds of wrong, especially for a guy who lives in Japan, married to a Japanese woman, and who translates the language to English as a profession. When Scott Hards says Japanese words, his pronunciation sounds proper. 

Every time Matt says Gun-dam, it drives me crazy. Like, DUDE!

Language quirks aside, I didn't know he was part of Toybox DX. Pretty cool. I definitely appreciate his bringing awareness of Japanese pop culture to the English speaking world. I'm going to have to track down his books and give them a read. I kick myself ever so hard and chronically for my lukewarm interest in Japanese culture and society when I was in Okinawa. I was a small town 19 year old with a very, very narrow worldview.  In hindsight, I would have absolutely loved a career doing what Matt's doing, certainly far more than the military for which I was always a round peg trying to fit into a very square hole. 

 

Edit; After watching the whole vid, two things are quite poignant to me, as I sit in front of my flat screen monitor surrounded on all sides by toy robots: the effect of Japanization of Western society, primarily through our obsession and consumption of electronics, and the subtle effect of their pop culture finding a global audience through media and toys. When I was in Okinawa from '90-92, stacked stereo systems, laser, and CD players were all the rage, and the stuff I saw in Okinawa was years ahead of what was out in the States. Most military folks took max advantage (I was just a lowly dorm rat Airman, so my stack system was small and compact, yet still years ahead in its capabilities of anything I saw in the US years after I returned). It was really like stepping into the future from that POV.  From a toy and pop culture POV, I started young, around 4 or 5, watching Battle of the Planets (Science Ninja Team: Gatchaman) and Speed Racer. Then, in 1984, a little show called Transformers had an enormous impact on my life. I started getting into anime in the 90's with Macross Plus being my gateway into anime and Japanese toy collecting beyond Transformers. I never played many video games as a kid, so my voyage into that moneypit and time sink also began in my late twenties with my purchase of a Playstation 1 and the original Armored Core game. It's a very interesting concept that we have all, regardless of ethnicity or country, become, in essence, Japanese through our consumption of these imported obsessions, if you will, inherent to Japan. To my mind, we're better for it, certainly more enriched.

Edited July 25, 2020 by M'Kyuun

[bluemax151]

This video seems strangely relevant considering the sudden scare of Western censorship of Japanese fiction.  That said it's been a while since I watched or read anything related to Matt or Scott. Good to see they're still around and active.

[M'Kyuun]

@bluemax151 I wasn't aware that there was a movement to censor Japanese fiction. Do you mean written fiction (i.e. novels, periodicals, etc), manga, anime, or something else?

Edited July 25, 2020 by M'Kyuun

[Dynaman]

He probably means things like Amazon pulling some manga off of their services.  It has been mentioned in other discussions here but I forget where.  Perhaps the what anime are you watching discussion.

[kajnrig]

There's also been instances of video game companies - Sony, most notably, though MS and Nintendo recently, too, to an extent - tamping down on some of the more risque elements of not just but mostly (or at least most visibly) Japanese games. I don't know if that's part of what bluemax is referring to.

[M'Kyuun]

I was at Target yesterday, and looked to see if they carried this, but no. I guess I'll have to get mine at B&N. I haven't been since the pandemic started, and our mall has been at limited opening, so perhaps I'll make a trip this week.

I was going to get it at HLJ, since they hosted Matt, and will likely be the only carriers of signed copies (not that it's important to me- it's a nicety, but that's about all), but they want $50 for a copy(before shipping), whereas B&N have it for $28. I'm a B&N member, so I'll probably pay about $26 for it. "Good business is where you find it."

Edited July 26, 2020 by M'Kyuun

[bluemax151]

M'Kyuun, pretty much what Dynaman and kajnrig posted. There's been some movement prior to ban things like Dance in the Vampire Bund completely too. Conspiracy theories would have you believe there is an organized effort to ban Japanese exports due to their success and while I do believe that is blown out of proportion there is a kernel of truth there. You need look no farther than airsoft which they are trying to ban in the US because it is too realistic looking while paintball and domestic air gun companies have faced no such restrictions or banning.

The hypocrisy of Sony especially irritates me. They commonly censor JPN titles but not western ones. I find it strangely poetic that the tlou2 is censored in Japan but not in the US.