That's a good one.

I've never been a Jiro fan though, there are many sushi makers in japan that can be considered artists in their craft, but their cultural impact is mehh at best.

Studio Ghibli, both Miyazaki and Takahata, on the other hand...

I guess? There was a time where Jiro's restaurant was booked months in advance (as many uber famous locations can be), and had people traveling internationally just to eat there. That's a pretty big cultural impact whether it's your cup of tea or not. There's other people that shrug their shoulders at the Studio Ghibli content. I recognize their work as being very good, but I'm not a "fan". It's not my cup of tea, but I'm not going to claim it as being meh at best. I can recognize talent even if I don't like it.

I understand your point and I do not disagree.

What I meant is that sushi is still something that we consider a Japanese thing, we know that masters of sushi are Japanese, Jiro being famous only reinforced that notion.

On the other hand Studio Ghibli forced the western industry of animation to recognize their greateness, we awarded them prizes, and now in the west we make products that look and feel like anime and manga. We do not think of Japanese animation of "something for kids", we treat them like Disney.

Comic conventions are full of cosplayers dressed as manga/anime heroes.

Youngsters make meme based on manga, American studios make live actions and animation shows of anime and manga.

It's been a complete game changer, either we like it or not.