The All Japan High School Soccer Tournament, held annually since 1921, is one of the most prestigious high school soccer tournaments in the world.

The Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century saw the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate and the modernization of Japan.

The first novel ever written, The Tale of Genji, was written in Japan in the 11th century by a noblewoman named Murasaki Shikibu.