The Japan Professional Football League, also known as the J.League, was founded in 1992 and has become one of the most successful professional soccer leagues in Asia.

Tennis is also popular in Japan, with several Japanese players competing at the highest level of the sport, including Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori.

The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and subsequent tsunami devastated Japan's northeast coast and caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster.