Anyone who doesn't enjoy what their own country's media and culture have to offer can just look across the oceans and there lies Japan. I think a lot of the time it really is as simple as the fact it has a lot of accessible media that can just be an alternative option to the Americanisation that dominates the media and culture of most other countries. I can't really think of any other countries that have managed to achieve a similar sort of success in spreading their culture globally (apart from the obvious one, USA). Although there will be a few other reasons thrown in depending on the individual.
I'm not a huge fan of Japan or anime, but I still really enjoy some anime. It's like a bridging gap between shows aimed towards adults and children. I don't really want to 'act like a grown up' constantly and watch serious television shows and films all the time, but I'm still not really entertained much by cartoons (although, not gonna lie, I was watching Ed, Edd and Eddy last night). Anime retains the charm and fantasy that you can't get with live action, but often has themes that appeal to teenagers/young adults; they're willing to include a lot of controversial subjects that the west is still a little touchy about, a lot of anime will include violence, sexuality, abuse and/or other similar themes, as well as having a plot line that makes it somewhat more sophisticated than your typical cartoon for kids. That's it's main appeal to me anyway. It's like a fantasy story that's not as serious as reading through every Lord of the Rings book, and not as simple as watching Saturday morning children's TV.
As for the actual culture of Japan, I don't know very much. I would like to learn about many cultures though, so Japan isn't an exclusive member of that list. It's probably just due to my own laziness that I don't know much about it.
