Matt Alt's Blog, page 2
June 6, 2013
Meet the Beetles
Signs of summer in Japan: heat waves, rain storms, kakigori shave-ice... and massive, squirming beetle larvae, on sale at a store near you. Known as kabuto-mushi ("helmet bugs") here for their exokeleton's resemblence of samurai armor, these guys are hugely popular as pets in the warmer months. I spotted these fellas on sale at a local hardware store.
Japan's love for kabuto-mushi is intense. They seem to occupy a different level than that of "normal" bugs, and I've seen men and women who ru...
May 24, 2013
Yokai Stamps
A few months back, I gave a talk about yokai to a group of students visiting Tokyo from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. There are a lot of Norwegian folktales that resemble those from Japan - trolls and such - so they were a very receptive bunch.
A few weeks ago, one of the students, Stian Tranung, mailed me photos of this beautiful yokai stamp set he made by hand after reading Yokai Attack.
Very cool and I hope he considers mass producing them!
Some examples. Top left to r...
May 23, 2013
How to Survive a Kappa Attack
A few weeks back, I prepared a 5-minute slideshow on How to Survive a Kappa Attack for hordes of drunken visitors to Pecha Kucha Night at the now-closed Heineken Star Bar in Harajuku. The trick with Pecha Kucha talks is their speed: speakers get only 20 slides of just 20 seconds duration each to make their point.
My point was how dangerous Japan's single most famous yokai can be - and how to save your butt (literally). Not only has Pecha Kucha made it available online, it's been selected as...
May 4, 2013
Lego Evangelion
Three years in the making. In scale with standard Lego mini-figs. By master brickster Moko. Full story & build history here (in Japanese).
April 21, 2013
Separated at Birth?
Above, "Twintail" from Ultraman. Below, the "Slide-Rock Bolter" from Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, a 1910 guide to mysterious creatures of North America.
February 16, 2013
Grendizer Go!
Incubot,proud purveyor of all that crazy stuff we wish we'd owned as kids, is proud announce the launch of the Grendizer USB figure! Yes, Grendizer: that classic Seventies Go Nagai anime show featuring UFOs, giant robots, screw punches, more UFOs, and screaming robot space-turtles. Did I mention UFOs? And robots. Anyway, viddy this:
Freshlylaunched on Kickstarter, it's yours for a $45 contribution. 8 gigabytes, docks with the Spacer, which in turn acts as a USB hub that plugs into your PC...
February 10, 2013
Cyberthreat Cat
I thought that cat looked familiar. You know, the one from the case involving the demented guy threatening online to launch a killing spree at Comic Market. He was caught yesterday after cops tracked him down from a USB thumbdrive he'd attached to a stray cat on Enoshima Island. (Pics here.)
Hiroko happened to photograph that very same cat back in 2006! Little did we realize how famous he'd become just a few years later. Glad to see he's none the worse for wear after his big break.
February 7, 2013
Yo Nukes
Japan loves mascots. There are enough of them out there to fill a bookand many, many posts on the subject. Super-cute mascots aren't intended to be childish or condescending here; Japan's animistic, polytheistic roots seem to have given the nation the mutant power to transform nearly any object or concept, no matter how arcane, into a happy little mascot.
Japan's nuclear industry is no exception. Many of the nuclear facilities it built throughout the nation came complete with little museums -...
January 30, 2013
Kawaiisrael
From the Israel in Japan Facebook page, a contest that proves yet again that no concept can escape being made into a yuru-kyaramascot.
This time, the mission is to design a supercute character to represent the Israeli Embassy of Tokyo. As always, the point is to ride that fine line between silly and just plain lame - and don't forget to toss in as many local foods, customs, and tourist attractions as possible. Meet some of the top contenders below.
Lions and menorahs:
A positively proctologi...
December 24, 2012
The Ghosts of Christmas Present
This season, why not give the gift of total frickin' terror? The Yurei Attack ebook is here, satisfying all of your portable, digital Japanese ghost-hunting needs. In fact, you can download it from the Kindle Storeinstantly. That means you've never been closer to the ghosts of Yurei Attack than right this very second.Kind of spooky, when you think about it.
Yokai Attack! and Ninja Attack! ebooks to follow soon... Stay tuned for details!
