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

The 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack by the Aum Shinrikyo cult shocked Japan and led to increased scrutiny of religious groups.

Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata in 2003, is a popular manga and anime series that follows a high school student who gains the power to kill anyone whose name he writes in a special notebook.