For Matt Alt's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
The art of the cocktail is indisputably non-Japanese. The word itself is old American slang for a pick-me-up, referring in modern parlance to any mixed drink containing liquor and at least one other ingredient. Even if you aren't a drinker, chances are you can ...
Ultraman has been defending humanity against monsters and aliens for half a century. We examine the superhero's enduring legacy.
Better known for her crime and fantasy writing abroad, precious few of the prolific Miyuki Miyabe's tales of terror have actually made it into the English language. Haikasoru's publication of "Apparitions: Ghosts of Old Edo" addresses this oversight. Capably translated by Daniel Huddleston, this ...
After years of talk, 2013 marked a watershed moment in the government's Cool Japan campaign. Which begs the question: Is Japan cool? As a robot-obsessed kid growing up in the 1970s and '80s, I always thought so. But for years, the anime and manga that ...
My name is Matt, and I have a problem: I'm a grown man who thinks way too much about giant robots. Actually, I'm just kidding — it isn't a problem at all. Japanese robots literally changed the course of my life. Without robot anime, manga ...
Now that the tsuyu (梅雨, rainy season) has ended and the dreaded heat has descended upon the city, most of us have taken refuge indoors, camped out in front of the eakon (エアコン, air-conditioning) in a desperate attempt to wick away some of summer's ...
Good news for monster fans: Not one, not two, but three separate tokusatsu exhibitions are stomping their way through downtown Tokyo as you read these words. While you may never have heard the word "tokusatsu," you are likely familiar with what it is. A contraction ...
Tokyo is a city of many things, but "nature"? Not exactly a word that most associate with the metropolis. When it comes to the city's animal life, most Tokyoites think meiwaku dōbutsu (迷惑動物, pests) rather than yasei-dōbutsu (野生動物, wildlife), associating animal encounters with mischievous ...
Urameshiyā! (うらめしやぁ！) Oops! Didn't notice you there. Don't mind me. I was just practicing my Japanese ghost-call. "Urameshiyā!" is pretty much the standard opening line for any self-respecting Japanese ghost. It's nonetheless a word that is peculiarly tough to translate, but in a nutshell it ...
