Pure invention : how Japan's pop culture conquered the world
(Book)

Book Cover
Average Rating
Author
Published
New York : Crown, [2020].
Edition
First edition.
ISBN
1984826697, 9781984826695
Physical Desc
352 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Status
Adult Nonfiction (3rd floor)
NF 306.30952 ALT 2020
1 available

Description

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LocationCall NumberStatus
Adult Nonfiction (3rd floor)NF 306.30952 ALT 2020On Shelf

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More Details

Published
New York : Crown, [2020].
Format
Book
Edition
First edition.
Language
English
ISBN
1984826697, 9781984826695

Notes

Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description
"The untold story of how Japan became a cultural superpower through the fantastic inventions that captured-and transformed-the world's imagination. The Walkman. Karaoke. Pikachu. Pac-Man. Akira. Emoji. We've all fallen in love with one or another of Japan's pop-culture creations, from the techy to the wild to the super-kawaii. But as Japanese media veteran Matt Alt proves in this brilliant investigation of Tokyo's pop-fantasy complex, we don't know the half of it. Japan's toys, gadgets, and fantasy worlds didn't merely entertain. They profoundly transformed the way we live. In the 1970s and '80s, Japan seemed to exist in some near future, soaring on the superior technology of Sony and Toyota while the West struggled to catch up. Then a catastrophic 1990 stock-market crash ushered in the "lost decades" of deep recession and social dysfunction. The end of the boom times should have plunged Japan into irrelevance, but that's precisely when its cultural clout soared-when, once again, Japan got to the future a little ahead of the rest of us. Hello Kitty, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and entertainment empires like Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z were more than marketing hits. Artfully packaged, dangerously cute, and dizzyingly fun, these products made Japan the forge of the world's fantasies, and gave us new tools for coping with trying times. They also transformed us as we consumed them-connecting as well as isolating us in new ways, opening vistas of imagination and pathways to revolution. Through the stories of an indelible group of artists, geniuses, and oddballs, Pure Invention reveals how Japanese ingenuity remade global culture and may have created modern life as we know it. It's Japan's world; we're just gaming, texting, singing, and dreaming in it"--,Provided by publisher.
Action
cc,2020-07-22,JV

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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Alt, M. (2020). Pure invention: how Japan's pop culture conquered the world (First edition.). Crown.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Alt, Matt. 2020. Pure Invention: How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World. Crown.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Alt, Matt. Pure Invention: How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World Crown, 2020.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Alt, Matt. Pure Invention: How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World First edition., Crown, 2020.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.