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

The Muromachi period, which lasted from the 14th to the 16th century, was a time of great artistic and cultural achievement, including the development of tea ceremony and the Noh theater.

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