The 16th century saw the rise of Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who were instrumental in unifying Japan under a centralized government.

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

The robotic pet, such as Sony's Aibo, has become a popular form of entertainment and companionship for people who cannot keep real pets.