Well, consider that Japan has been the nr 2 economy for many decades, having been overtaken only as recently as 2010 by China. That's not nr 2 of Asian countrie

Well, consider that Japan has been the nr 2 economy for many decades, having been overtaken only as recently as 2010 by China. That's not nr 2 of Asian countries, nr 2 of all countries. All the more special is that it's also the nr 1 non-western economy, i.e. not the US or Canada or Australia or Europe, which will feel familiar to anyone living in those countries. Even irrespective of it being an economic powerhouse, it feels culturally more differentiated from the west, than say South-America is from North-America, or Eastern-Europe is from Western-Europe. Combine that with a long history of civilisation, and you've got THE major (economic) superpower with its own distinct culture. There's no such story in the rest of Asia, Africa or South America. All other countries are either economically struggling, or are culturally/historically insignificant, or are simply too small like Singapore. I don't think we even have to fully explore the interesting relationship Japan has with technology as part of its post-war economic and cultural story and many other such facets like it, to answer the question. None of the interest in Japan feels at all illogical to me.