From the (e)Bookshelf: Pure Invention

I happened to see notices of a book by Japan-based translator Matt Alt named Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World well in advance of its publication date. Blurbs that brought up “Japan was once seen as an incipient technological superpower, but even after its bubble burst it managed to start making its charming cultural fripperies acknowledged around the world” did get my attention; I thought a bit of Bending Adversity for all that David Pilling’s earlier book had brushed off in a breath the “pop culture” this later book appeared to be focusing on. When Pure Invention was at last available, I bought an ebook version.
( “There is no such country, there are no such people...” )