> For some reason Japanese culture is quite popular among nerdy types (be it anime? games? sushi?).
It's popular among all types, very much so in the states and France due to anime.
But they export A LOT of culture. and they are very good at streamlining that export. Fashion, video games, anime, food, etc.
It's really no surprise it's popular. If you end up consuming the culture (as many of us did as kids) you will be attracted to the origins of it as it contains many elements of the culture you consumed.
But yes, there's a lot of cross over between "nerds" or "otaku" and Japanese culture exports.
I assume because they didn't fit into their home culture fully, so they found escape in another foreign one that was adapted for them, and thus found a community to share common interests with, which reinforces that "obsession".
tldr: you can nerd/otaku out on anything, but Japan makes some good stuff to nerd out on, so you get hardcore fans.
It's popular among all types, very much so in the states and France due to anime.
But they export A LOT of culture. and they are very good at streamlining that export. Fashion, video games, anime, food, etc.
It's really no surprise it's popular. If you end up consuming the culture (as many of us did as kids) you will be attracted to the origins of it as it contains many elements of the culture you consumed.
But yes, there's a lot of cross over between "nerds" or "otaku" and Japanese culture exports.
I assume because they didn't fit into their home culture fully, so they found escape in another foreign one that was adapted for them, and thus found a community to share common interests with, which reinforces that "obsession".
tldr: you can nerd/otaku out on anything, but Japan makes some good stuff to nerd out on, so you get hardcore fans.