Japan Station: A Podcast About Japanese Culture & the Japanese Language 39 Exploring the United States of Japan w. Peter Tieryas
On this episode of the Japan Station podcast, award-winning author Peter Tieryas talks about his alternate history book series, United States of Japan, as well as answers many of the lingering questions at the end of his most recent book, Cyber Shogun Revolution.
About Peter TieryasPeter Tieryas is the award-winning author of the United States of Japan books (United States of Japan, Mecha Samurai Empire, Cyber Shogun Revolution). Inspired by Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle and Japanese popular media such as the Zone of the Enders and Metal Gear series of video games, the United States of Japan books present a dark but super technologically advanced world filled with epic mecha battles, hyper realistic video games, and a version of the United States that was split into two after Imprial Japan and Nazi Germany came out victorious in World War II. The United States of Japan books have been translated into multiple languages, including French, Spanish, and even Japanese. Tieryas is the recipient of two Seiun Awards for the Japanese translations of United States of Japan and Mecha Samurai Empire. Aside from his work as an author, Tieryas has also worked as a technical writer for LucasArts and a character artist for major motion pictures such as Guardians of the Galaxy. And he also really enjoys video games.
Topics Discussed- Why Peter chose Beniko as the name of one of the main characters of United States of Japan
- Why Peter decided to reference Punch Out and Hajime no Ippo (Fighting Spirit) through the name of the main character of Mecha Samurai Empire (Makoto Fujimoto/Mac)
- The symbolism of Akiko Tsukino's dreams
- Unites States of Japan as a general commentary on militarism
- Why Peter decided to make Akiko Tsukino of mixed French Korean heritage rather than ethnically Japanese
- Why technology is so advanced in the United States of Japan universe
- Why Japan developed mecha in the universe of United States of Japan
- Peter's writing process for the United State of Japan trilogy
- Some of the things the mecha that appear in Cyber Shogun Revolution reference
- How Peter goes about creating mecha
- The positive reception of the United States of Japan books by fans around the world
- Winning the Seiun Award
- Traveling to Japan for the first time to attend the Seiun Award ceremony in 2017
- Why Peter decided not to focus on mainland Japan in the United States of Japan books
- Whether Peter plans to write more books in the United States of Japan series
- The dark undertones of the United States of Japan series
- Having Hideo Kojima write a blurb for Mecha Samurai Empire
- Peter's upcoming novel focusing on what would happen to the world if people stopped dying
- And a whole lot of spoiler talk regarding Cyber Shogun Revolution (after the outro mousic)
- And much more!
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Links, Videos, Etc.All three books in the United States of Japan series are available for purchase now. If you would like to support Japan Station, please use the Amazon Associates links below.
- United Stes of Japan (Book 1)
- Mecha Samurai Empire (A United States of Japan Novel Book 2)
- Cyber Shogun Revolution (A United States of Japan Novel Book 3)
If you want to stay up to date with everything Peter is working on, then make sure to follow him on Twitter
You can also check out Peter's YouTube channel.
If you would like to learn more about Peter's first trip to Japan and his experience attending the Seiun Award ceremony, check out the article below.
Spoiler TalkThis episode includes a spoiler-heavy section after the outro sequence in which Peter Tieryas answers questions about characters and story elements that were left out of Cyber Shogun Revolution. Here's a list of some of the main things he discusses in this section. If you have not read the United States of Japan books yet, you should not continue reading or listen to the spoiler section of this episode. Please come back after you have read all three books.
- Where Mac (Makoto Fujimoto) and Grisalda are during the events of Cyber Shogun Revolution (they are teachers at the Berkeley Military Academy)
- Some of the things that were left out of the final draft of Cyber Shogun Revolution
- How Peter considered killing off Mac
- How Peter tried killing Kujira in a draft of Cyber Shogun Revolution
- Difficulties trying to figure out how Kujira would react to Akiko's actions in the events of Cyber Shogun Revolution
- Dreaming about being in Mecha Samurai Empire
- Kujira's growth as a character
- The existence of an unreleased novella focusing on Kujira that is titled The United States of Kujira
- The sequel to United States of Japan that Peter tried to write before he began working on Mecha Samurai Empire
- Akiko's role in the United States of Japan series
- Whether Peter has heard from fans regarding the identity of Bloody Mary
- The thought process that went into writing the ending of Cyber Shogun Revolution
- The meaning behind Kujira's name
Opening/Closing song: Oedo Controller (大江戸コントローラー) by Yunomi featuring Toriena (Used with permission from Yunomi) To listen to more of Yunomi's music, check out his Soundcloud page or YouTube channel.
Japan Station cover art: Provided by Erik R.
Featured image: Courtesy of Peter Tieryas
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