New versions of communication emerged and were forged on the streets of Japan to suit electronic medium that took off in Japan before they were introduced to the rest of the world. Adulthood was being reimagined by young people across Japan crushed by their nation’s systems.

Starting in the 1990s, young people in Japan had difficulty launching their careers and leaving the nest.

When things get rough, we escape into virtual constructs and connect with other people in a fantasy environment.Įach one of these phenomena has a distinctive precursor in Japanese society decades before we began to see them happening in the West. Electronic systems make us the center of attention and yet isolate and alienate us at the same time. The milestones and goalposts of adulthood seem to be continually pushed off to the point that many young adults still refer to their lives as “adulting”. We are more interconnected than ever before and yet we are seemingly crushingly lonely. The session was moderated by an author, Kenneth Lee. TOKYO, FebruMatt Alt, the author of “Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World”, joined Art for Breakfast online to discuss how our pandemic lives were “made in Japan” and tell us how he became an expert in Japan’s pop culture.

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