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.

Japan's surrender in World War II was announced on August 15, 1945, and marked the end of the war in the Pacific.

The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and subsequent tsunami devastated Japan's northeast coast and caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster.