system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is Japanese culture so popular in North America?

Video games, vehicles, anime, manga, karate, cuisine (teriyaki, sushi, etc.), toys, J-POP, etc.
gpt
Japan has for decades been the only fully modernized country (by American standards) that is not based on Western European culture. So we respect it, and can identify with the country's modern, wealthy, educated, industrialized lifestyle and outlook; yet we find a great deal that is different and therefore interesting.

We enjoy French culture for similar, if less dramatic, reasons. They're so much like us, yet just different enough to offer something refreshing and compelling.