I also grew up in that era and the other part worth mentioning is that Japan seemed to be taking over the world economically. Japanese cars rapidly replaced Ame

I also grew up in that era and the other part worth mentioning is that Japan seemed to be taking over the world economically. Japanese cars rapidly replaced American cars on the landscape, Japanese electronics did the same. Japanese money was said to buying up the entire country. It was pretty natural to fetishize a culture that seemed so staggeringly successful and ascendant.