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.

The Tokyo Marathon, first held in 2007, has become one of the most popular marathons in the world, with over 30,000 runners participating each year.

The Japanese language is written using three scripts: kanji (Chinese characters), hiragana, and katakana (both phonetic scripts).