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

Tokyo is the political and economic center of Japan, and is home to the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the headquarters of many major corporations.

Mobile Suit Gundam, created by Yoshiyuki Tomino in 1979, is a popular anime series that helped to popularize the mecha genre of anime, which features giant robots.