A lot of valuable points have already been made, but I think it is as much a chance of timing. I think the main factor is economics: post-war Japan was well pl

A lot of valuable points have already been made, but I think it is as much a chance of timing. I think the main factor is economics: post-war Japan was well placed to export its culture. Around the 70s/80s Japan, in being the most economically developed of the East Asian countries, was trading the most with the West. At the time, China was still on lock down for example, and Korea's growth curve was later and smaller than Japan's. This period coincided with TVs becoming more common in the household, and later came VHS and consoles, and Japan was able to cement a position of exotic appeal in pop/alt culture as access to and variety of media increased. In the mainstream you had things like Karate Kid, Ninja Turtles and Mario. Slightly less mainstream you had things like DBZ, Sailor Moon and Akira. It probably also helps that Japan feels more "familiar" to the west: Japan has democracy and homosexuality is not illegal, for example. I would hazard that factors like this make Japanese culture somewhat less foreign to follow than say Chinese culture which may be smeared by anti-communist sentiment.