These days it's even more popular worldwide than it was when I first got into it.
My family thought it was stupid and childish and whatever, too. I was laughed at a lot for watching Sailor Moon when I was 12 (how ridiculous is that) and when I started to listen to Japanese music my family hardly thought it was good music but rather made fun of it, yes, how very mature. But these days at least one anime airs on TV in most countries. Hello Kitty is worldwide. And when it comes to music, I think it's ridiculous that adults have a problem with it because it's not something they listen to/know themselves. "It's Japanese." or Chinese, or Italian or Indian, whatever. Not like it's illegal or related to the mafia. It's music from a different country, big deal? Not really.