japanamerica

Earlier this year I signed off on another foreign-language license for a new Spanish-language translation of my book JAPANAMERICA: How Japanese Pop Culture has Invaded the US , which has been updated with a new subtitle (in Spanish, of course): How Japanese Pop Culture has Conquered the West . I'm pleased to announce that the new Spanish edition will be released just in time for Christmas 2020.  My thanks to Jennifer in Barcelona and Marta in New York for managing the deal via my US publisher St. Martin's Press, and to Samuel and Iñaki for publishing the new edition at Odaiba Ediciones. They had planned some launch events and signings with me in Madrid but all have been postponed until our post-Covid era commences. More info forthcoming.

I write about my 10 years helping to make MONKEY , the only annual English-language Japanese literary magazine, in my latest column for the Nikkei . This project has taught me a ton about language, translation, art, culture and friendship, and has taken me around the world on book tours. I am humbled and grateful. The new issue is available for preorder in print and digital editions here . 

I will be appearing on a panel for the annual US-Asia Entertainment Summit in Los Angeles this Saturday, November 21st, at 10 am Japan Standard Time (Friday the 20th, 5 pm PST/8 pm EST) to discuss "Hollywood's New Anime Gold Rush." I will be joined by the presidents of Sentai Filmworks and Production I.G USA , and the senior vice president and creative director for Toonami's Adult Swim/Cartoon Network : John Ledford, Maki Terashima-Furuta and Jason DeMarco. These are some of the finest and best-qualified professionals you could assemble for a discussion of this topic.  The event is hosted and sponsored by Asia Society of Southern California, Japan House Los Angeles, JETRO and The Cool Japan Fund.  More info and registration for the livestream is here . I hope you'll join us this Saturday/Friday the 21st/20th.   

I am honored to be a guest again at The Makassar International Writers Festival this Saturday, November 14th at 2pm Japan Standard Time. The in-person event is magical, held on the grounds of a 17th Century Dutch fort along the coast and featuring live music, readings, art and heaps of Indonesian cuisine.  Alas, I won't be there this year but will be on Zoom (again!) and hope you'll join us. Registration is here: https://bit.ly/RegistrasiComicTalkMAAF

I'll be participating in two public events next month, one of which may have a live audience in addition to Zooming heads. Hope you'll join us, online or off.  •    Saturday 10/10, 10am - 12 pm Japan Standard Time (Friday 10/9, 9pm - 11 pm EST, 6pm - 8pm PST): Voices from Japan: Launching the New Literary Journal MONKEY , with Motoyuki Shibata, Tomoka Shibasaki, Hideo Furukawa, Satoshi Kitamura, Ted Goossen, Meg Taylor, Polly Barton and Jordan Smith. Hosted by Hitomi Yoshio at Waseda University. Click here to register. •      Sunday 10/18, 10am - 11:30 am Japan Standard Time (Saturday 10/17, 9pm - 10:30 pm EST, 6pm - 7:30pm PST):  Mieko Kawakami (BREASTS AND EGGS) in conversation with Roland Kelts (JAPANAMERICA) , with Motoyuki Shibata (introduction) and Hitomi Yoshio (interpretation). Hosted by International House Japan and The Asia Society. Click here to register.

From the battlefield to manga to Zoom: A Kyushu samurai clan and its legendary warrior get an online outing Now that almost no one can travel, what do you do with the 400-year-old villa and gardens of a UNESCO World Heritage site in one of the country’s most beautiful seaside cities? If you’re in Japan, you forge a link between today’s soft power standbys — manga and anime — and the enduring draw of samurai culture. And if you’re living through a pandemic, you do it the way nearly everything else is done these days: on Zoom. For the first time in its history, Sengan-en, the estate of the Shimazu family, a samurai clan that ruled the southern Kyushu region from the 12th to 19th century, is going virtual.  In partnership with Shonen Gahosha, publisher of the manga “Drifters,” whose hero is modeled on the family’s legendary warrior, Toyohisa Shimazu, Sengan-en will present an online English-language event in three parts: a guided tour of the house and its grounds, an exhibition of ov...

How the pandemic, and local politics, threaten the future of anime conventions The Japan Times Morgan Kollin is exhausted. During a video interview from his home near Detroit, Michigan, he nods and blinks against fatigue. The 40-year-old is the founder and chairman of Youmacon , Michigan’s largest anime convention, with a 15-year history and an annual draw of 23,000. Youmacon is scheduled to take place as an in-person gathering on Halloween weekend, Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 — though many think it shouldn’t. For the past few months, Kollin has been struggling to keep things together for the sake of his staff and his well-being. When asked if he sleeps much, he shakes his head: “Not remotely.” The reason for Kollin’s restlessness may seem counterintuitive. After spending a year preparing for his convention, he is now trying to cancel it. The technicalities of U.S. law have him hoping that local politicians will soon prohibit all large public events in his region, granting him the legal righ...