The Hakone Ekiden, a long-distance relay race held annually between Tokyo and Hakone, is one of the most prestigious races in Japanese college athletics.

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

The Taisho period, which lasted from 1912 to 1926, was marked by political instability and social change, including the rise of labor unions and women's rights movements.