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.

Japan's surrender in World War II was announced on August 15, 1945, and marked the end of the war in the Pacific.

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