Japan was occupied and rebuilt by the United States immediately following the war. There was tremendous cultural and technological exchange during this time, and after occupation ended, Japanese cultural and technical exports rapidly achieved parity with the West in a way that the other countries you listed did not. If you were a tech-focused kid in the 80's, it was Japan that had the fascinating imports. Japanese cars went from being a cultural laughingstock to economic powerhouse in less than a decade. Japan was simply present in the US to a degree that no other Asian country came close to.

(South Korea is the next closest competitor in terms of having the West's attention, and it's not a coincidence that it is also the other major east Asian country to have gone through an occupation and rebuilding phase, with the concomitant cultural exchange between the two.)

Taiwan is the odd one out (IMO) in that it also has a strong history of ties with the US and cultural/technological exchange, but it doesn't seem to have captured attention in the same way as the other two. I don't know why.

Japan produced a lot of comic books and films, and nerds like comic books and films?

Interest ebbs and flows. Korea is perhaps eclipsing Japan in general interest these days. But their cultural export is pop music and boy bands, and their main Western demographic seems to be teenage girls.