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 Japan Open, a professional tennis tournament held annually in Tokyo, is one of the oldest and most prestigious tournaments in Asia.

In Japan, there is a tradition of eating KFC for Christmas dinner, which started as a marketing campaign in the 1970s.