The Japanese men's national basketball team has competed in several Olympic Games and has produced several NBA players, including Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe.

Japanese anime has gained a huge following outside of Japan and has become an important part of global popular culture, with many anime conventions and fan events held around the world.

Akira, directed by Katsuhiro Otomo in 1988, is a classic anime film that helped to popularize the cyberpunk genre of science fiction.