It’s only imperialism if it comes from the West

In the present stage of history, yes. No country other than Japan or the western ones have managed to rise to the status of being imperialist powers. The reason is simple. The powers which became imperialist first delayed the development of the rest of the world by literal centuries, preventing any other people from becoming imperialist. Japan happened to escape this fate by geographical luck and developed early, allowing it to join the ranks of the imperialists.

There is a reason why the most dominant/advanced capitalist countries today are still the same ones that were advanced over a 100 years ago.

otherwise it’s just sparkling being an asshole to your neighbors

This has literally nothing to do with imperialism, which is the system by which a handful of the most advanced capitalist countries have consumed unparalleled sums of human labor from the whole of humanity for centuries on end.