What's up with so called "buster" weapons in anime and Japanese games?

In the anime Gundam Wing, the mech called Wing Gundam has a laser rifle called the "Buster Rifle". In the Megaman games, Megaman's arm cannon is called the "Mega Buster". In the Megaman X games, his arm cannon is called the "X Buster". And there's lots of other examples in anime too. It seems that "buster" is a generic term for "directed energy weapon" in Japanese entertainment media. What's up with that?

Japanese/Anime tradition I guess.

Similarly, I also notice that Zero is used a lot in anime and Japanese games. Upgraded Wing Gundam is called Wing Gundam Zero. Megaman X's sidekick is called just plain Zero. I think there's other examples of this as well. Most interestingly the actual WWII era Japanese aircraft were called Zero fighters.

This leads me to think that the word "zero" is important somehow to the Japanese, and that the word "buster" is likewise somehow important to Japanese culture. Can someone explain either of these to me? Anyone here on AF strongly familiar with Japanese culture?

Buster = Object to bust things open. Buster rifle? A rifle that busts open mobile suits. Buster sword? A sword that busts open people's skulls. Buster Tank? A tank that busts other tanks open. It's just a common thing that creators can use to make something seem more powerful or significant.

And you're wrong on the Zero fighters buddy. Only the Mitsubishi A6M was the Zero; "The A6M is universally known as the "Zero" from its Japanese Navy type designation, Type 0 Carrier Fighter (Rei shiki Kanjō sentōki, 零式艦上戦闘機), taken from the last digit of the Imperial year 2600 (1940), when it entered service. In Japan, it was unofficially referred to as both Rei-sen and Zero-sen; Japanese pilots most commonly called it Zero-sen." As you can see here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ar_II#Fighters , there's many other fighter aircraft in the Imperial Military, but only one Zero.
As far as it since being honored or referenced to in anime, that's a good possibility. It was a great aircraft considering it's short falls. And it's not like the U.S. doesn't do it either. You know the Ford Mustang? It was named after the P-51 Mustang.

I thought the word "zero" (not necessarily the number 0, but the actual spoken "zero" that in English happens to be how you pronounce that number) was somehow significant to them dating back centuries as part of their cultural heritage or religion.

Apparently not http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_(disambiguation), unless you count them using the Imperial year to name the type designation for the aircraft.