The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), invented by Nintendo in 1985, revolutionized the video game industry and introduced many classic games and characters.

Japan's victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 was the first time an Asian power had defeated a European power in a modern war.

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