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See also the English upper-class ritual introductory exchange:

How do you do?

To which the correct response is:

How do you do?

I’ve learned, can’t say if mistakenly or not, that if an American/Brit really expects you to answer, they will say “Are you OK?”

The Japanese say something like "nice weather, eh?" (ii otenki desu ne? - to which one replies "sure is! - "so desu ne!") -- which is mostly just a semantically little-analyzed pragmatic sequence functioning as a casual greeting.

It’s also not universally American. One of the adjustments I had to make in Boston is “how you doin’?” being the start of a leisurely conversation instead of a quick pleasantry.

It's not just American. It's very similar at least in Belgium and I suppose on other western countries too