The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, created by Nagaru Tanigawa in 2003, is a popular light novel series and anime that explores themes of existentialism, time travel, and alternate realities.

Nagoya is Japan's fourth-largest city and a major industrial center, with a population of over 9 million people in the greater Nagoya area.

Japan's victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 was the first time an Asian power had defeated a European power in a modern war.