On some days I feel quite alienated

I get where you’re coming from. Japan has a rich culture full of tradition and things like Anime or “pop” music are a drop in the bucket compared to all the culture of Japan- but Anime and Manga and music are important parts of Japanese culture- especially modern Japanese culture- they’ve shaped and been shaped by events of the last century and beyond- so it would be more precise to say “Japanese Pop culture” although even that would be a tad reductive as those things are only an ELEMENT of pop culture, itself an element of larger culture- and hardly ubiquitous to all Japanese of all age groups. But while not precise, it is accurate to say that those things ARE “Japanese culture” as in- they are PART of Japanese culture and informed by Japanese culture.

Do normies use the word weeaboo now?