PURE INVENTION JAPANS POP CULTURE CONQUERED WORLD HC

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. Hello Kitty, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and entertainment empires like Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z were more than marketing hits. They transformed us as we consumed them, connecting as well as isolating us in new ways, opening vistas of imagination and pathways to revolution. It's Japan's world; we're just gaming, texting, singing, and dreaming in it.