Tempura, a dish made with battered and deep-fried seafood or vegetables, is a popular Japanese dish that originated in the 16th century.

The first novel ever written, The Tale of Genji, was written in Japan in the 11th century by a noblewoman named Murasaki Shikibu.

Karaoke, a popular form of entertainment in Japan, originated in Kobe in the 1970s.