Born in Washington, D.C., the United States. Matt ALT graduated from Wisconsin State University with a major in Japanese. He worked as a translator for the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and since 2003 has served as vice president of AltJapan, a company specializing in entertainment localization.
A translator of video game software, manga, books, and movies, he has appeared on domestic Japanese TV programs while writing articles for The New Yorker and Newsweek Japan. He is also longtime co-host of the NHK World television series “Japanology Plus.”
He is the co-author of the book Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide (Tuttle Publishing, 2008). His latest book is Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World (Crown, 2021).

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