While I agree that some aspects of American culture are adopted with little knowledge of why that aspect is popular in America to start with, and sometimes you wonder why something takes hold in Japan, the same can certainly be said of America's fascination with Japan.

I get endless emails from high school kids who watch my videos on teaching in Japan and ask me all kinds of really strange questions about Japan, and you come to realize that their interest in Japan stems from a love of anime/manga and not much else.
Japan for many Westerners is still an exotic fairy tale land of sushi, samurai and sakura.