How Big Was Asimov in Japan?

...Particularly in the immediate post-war decades. Because although I suspect his original Foundation trilogy was intended not only a thought experiment in how Europe picked up the pieces after the decline and fall of the Roman Empire but also as a thinkpiece on where the U.S. stood to stand after the decline and fall of the British Empire, it's occurred to me both times I've taught Foundation that it really was Japan that picked up on the whole "how to win friends and influence people through trade in high-tech miniaturization" vibe towards its end (and in the beginning of its sequel).

Not being an Asimov expert, I'm ashamed to admit that I'm probably as influenced by South Park's "Chinpokomon" episode (video/script/commentary) as anything here. And I don't have time to do any real research on the question of how much influence Asimov's 1940s stories and early 1950s novels may have had on Japan's trade and technology policies (or, for that matter, on those running the American post-war occupation of Japan). But wouldn't it be weird/neat if the answer was, "lots"?