History UsefulNotes / Japan

* ''Film/RedSun'' blends the {{Jidaigeki}} and SpaghettiWestern genres by sending a Japanese warrior (Creator/ToshiroMifune) in TheWildWest.

* The 1980 miniseries adaptation of ''[[Literature/AsianSaga Shōgun]]'' with Creator/RichardChamberlain and Creator/ToshiroMifune is set in Japan.
* Ditto the [[Series/Shogun2024 2024 version]] of ''Shōgun''.

[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''WebVideo/HistoryOfJapan'' (which can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5LY4Mz15o here]]) is a 2016 video that presents the entire history of Japan in exactly nine minutes. Due to the way it's presented, it's become famous as a FountainOfMemes on Tumblr and other sites.

** In ''Film/NoTimeToDie'', BigBad Safin (Creator/RamiMalek) has a visible fondness for Japan, wearing a Noh theatre mask when killing the mother of Madeleine Swann, having a Japanese garden in his IslandBase and dressing in a kimono in the climax. The IslandBase happens to be part of the Kuril Islands, which are disputed between Japan and UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}.

* ''Film/{{Wasabi}}'' sees a French CowboyCop (Creator/JeanReno) go to Japan and deal with what his OldFlame left behind (a BrattyTeenageDaughter, among others). A {{Yakuza}} gang.

** In ''Film/NoTimeToDie'', the main villain, Safin (Creator/RamiMalek) has a visible fondness for Japan, wearing a Noh theatre mask when killing the mother of Madeleine Swann, having a Japanese garden in his IslandBase and dressing in a kimono in the climax. The IslandBase happens to be part of the Kuril Islands, which are disputed between Japan and UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}.

!! Japan in popular culture

Most {{Manga}}, {{Anime}}, JapaneseLiterature, * {{Samurai}} / JidaiGeki, {{Toku}} and {{Kaiju}} works are set in Japan, obviously enough. The below list mainly concerns Western media about Japan.

* ''Film/LostInTranslation2003'' by Creator/SofiaCoppola takes place entirely in Tokyo, where an American movie star (Creator/BillMurray) does some Japandering (inspired by a stint of [[Creator/FrancisFordCoppola Coppola's father]]) to make a living and meets and befriends a lone married American girl (Creator/ScarlettJohansson).
* ''{{Film/Sayonara}}'' takes place in Japan and was filmed on-location (although in Kyoto, when it's set in Kobe). The director was inspired to make it after visiting the country and seeing various forms of performing arts (two major characters are theatre performers).

* ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' sends Film/JamesBond on a mission in Japan.

* Most {{Manga}}, {{Anime}}, JapaneseLiterature, {{Toku}} and {{Kaiju}} works are set in Japan, obviously enough.
* {{Samurai}} / JidaiGeki media, most of which are set in feudal Japan.
* A lot of US [[WarTimeCartoon war time cartoons]] ridicule the Japanese due to their affiliation with the Axis, including ''WesternAnimation/TheDucktators'', ''WesternAnimation/TokioJokio'' and ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunnyNipsTheNips''.
** American comics from the time did the same thing, as the ''Action Comics'' cover in PropagandaMachine can attest.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E23ThirtyMinutesOverTokyo "30 Minutes Over Tokyo"]] the family travels to Japan where they reference nearly every Japanese stereotype and/or reference point possible.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': The episode "Chinpokomon" has the makers of ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokémon]]" use the show to brainwash the youth so they can take over the world.
* Music/DeepPurple recorded their best known LiveAlbum in Osaka: ''Music/MadeInJapan''. Many other hard rock/metal bands afterwards have had live albums recorded in concerts in Japan, such as Music/{{Scorpions|Band}} (''Tokyo Tapes'') and Music/JudasPriest (''Unleashed in the East'').
* Music/SarahVaughan also recorded a LiveAlbum in Japan, though in her case in Tokyo: ''Music/LiveInJapan''.
* All but one of Music/MrBig's {{live album}}s were recorded in Japan. (They were hugely popular over there but in their native America they're remembered as a OneHitWonder for "To Be With You".)
* Some Western bands have also recorded music videos in Japan, like Music/ThePolice's "So Lonely" and Music/TheKillers' "Read My Mind".
* ''Film/LostInTranslation2003'', a Hollywood movie taking place entirely in Tokyo, where an American movie star does some {{Japandering}} to make a living and meets an American girl he likes.
* In the first half of ''Film/KillBill'' (i.e. the first of the two films), the Bride travels to Japan to act revenge on O-Ren Ishii.
* Most of the action in ''Film/TheWolverine'' is set in Japan, as a reference to Logan's backstory there (as told in his [[TheEighties 80s]] comics phase).
* The 1980 mini series ''Series/{{Shogun}}'' with Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune is set in Japan.
* Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's operette ''Theatre/TheMikado'' is set in feudal Japan.
* Part of the James Bond film ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' takes place in Japan.
* ''Theatre/MadameButterfly'' by Music/GiacomoPuccini is an opera about a Japanese geisha and her love for an American lieutenant.
* The song "The Japanese Sandman" is about a sandman who exchanges yesterdays for tomorrows.
* ''WebVideo/HistoryOfJapan'' (which can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5LY4Mz15o here]]) is a 2016 video that presents the entire history of Japan in exactly nine minutes. Due to the way it's presented, it's become famous as a FountainOfMemes on Tumblr and other sites.
* ''VideoGame/SplinterCellChaosTheory'' brings Third Echelon agent Sam Fisher to Japan for several levels, including a private retreat in Hokkaido, a bathhouse in Tokyo and a fictional Ministry of Defense location, Kokubo Sosho, with an elaborate base under the Tokyo Bay. A fictional new Japanese counter-intelligence agency, Admiral Toshiro Otomo's ISDF, cooperates with Third Echelon. [[spoiler:And turns out to be the real enemy.]]
* ''{{Film/Sayonara}}'' is a 1957 Hollywood film that takes place in Japan and was filmed on-location (although in Kyoto, when it's set in Kobe). The director was inspired to make it after visiting Japan and seeing various forms of performing arts (two major characters are theatre performers).
* The [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Kanto]], [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Johto]], [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Hoenn]] and [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Sinnoh]] regions of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' are all based on regions of Japan, specifically [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Kanto]], Kansai, Kyushu and Hokkaido respectively. ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'' is set in a past version of Sinnoh, based on Hokkaido when it was still dominated by the Ainu people.

* Most {{Manga}}, {{Anime}}, JapaneseLiterature, {{Toku}} and {{Kaiju}} works are set in Japan, obviously.

Japan is a free-market, developed, democratic country, with the world's 3rd largest economy, and very high standards of living. While many countries in Asia (and especially East Asia) are today considered developed and high-economic, Japan has the quirk of having experienced mass industrialization and development predating them by decades. [[UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration Within the span of a mere 30 years]], Japan transformed from a poor, loosely-knit, largely-feudal, agriculture-concentric society into an industrial and military powerhouse, enabling it to pursue a campaign of exploration and colonialism abroad and participate in two world wars as key players. For a long time, it was the only Asian country that could "stand on equal footing" with Western Europe and the Anglophone countries in terms of economy and development; it is the only Asian representative of the G7, which grouped the world's seven largest economies when it was created in the 1970s. Up until the asset price bubble and resulting economic turmoil of the 1990s, Japan was even considered to have [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld the potential to upstage the United States as top superpower]], because it seemed to have ''everything'' penetrated, from consumer goods, automobiles, and an [[VideoGames entertainment]] [[{{Anime}} sec]][[{{Manga}} tor]] with a commercial and cultural exposure potency rivaling that of the USA.

In the face of a huge rival in China, Japan's influence is not really as strong as it was in the 20th century, but it's still a force to be reckoned with, being the world's fifth largest exporter and having the third biggest economy and fifth largest military strength and ninth by expenditure. An issue plaguing Japan today is its aging problem: with people aged 65 and above forming a quarter of the population, Japan has the oldest population in the world. Thanks to better education about health, the relaxation of abortion laws, and changing social norms, many people are marrying later, if at all. This is the same case with many developed countries, including those in Europe, but Japan is a special case because unlike Europe or North America, Japan (and East Asia in general) is infamously xenophobic when it comes to the treatment of foreigners, who are always treated as the "other", causing it to adopt a very low quota for immigrants each year, preventing the population from growing even more. Another issue is the rising ultranationalism among the population since the 1970s, especially in regards to China and Korea. The latter two feel that Japan doesn't do enough to fess up to its crimes during WWII, which, to their credit, isn't unfounded. Unlike Germany, Japan has no equivalent policy of denazification and never truly educates its population about its role in WWII. It doesn't help that the government (led mainly by the [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies conservative and right-wing]] Liberal Democratic Party since the 1950s) tends to avoid the issue when asked and sometimes deliberately aggravates it (e.g. the repeated visitations of the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines several A-Class war criminals, by politicians).\\\

* '''Area:''' 377,975 km
(145,937 sq mi) (62nd)

Known principally as the land of UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}}, {{Samurai}}, {{Ninja}}s (or ''Shinobi'' for those who value historical accuracy), electronic and general consumer {{Mega Corp}}s and incredible innovation (although [[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-21992700 not as much]] today), one-third of the interactive entertainment industry, {{Manga}}, {{Anime}}, an interesting fusion of Orientalist and Western architecture, UsefulNotes/{{kawaisa}}, sushi, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick wartime atrocities, rather-frequent natural disasters, and two cities that bore witness to the true potential of nuclear warfare]]. With a population of 125 million, it is the sixth most populous country in Asia, and the eleventh most populous in the world.

[[caption-width-right:330:The [[{{Kaiju}} Kaijus']] favorite playground.]]

Japan ('''Japanese:''' ''日本''; ''Nippon'' or ''Nihon''[[note]]Yes, it's just Japan and just ''Nippon''. There is no "Kingdom" or "State" in its title. Officially, the monarch of Japan is called "Emperor" (''Tennō''), which would mean Japan is an empire, but that would bring to mind [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII terrible memories of the 1940s...]][[/note]]) is an island country located off UsefulNotes/{{Asia}}'s [[UsefulNotes/TheFarEast eastern coast]]. It's territory is comprised of four major islands (from north to south: Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū) and thousands of smaller ones.

An archipelago off UsefulNotes/{{Asia}}'s [[UsefulNotes/TheFarEast eastern coast]], comprising of four major islands (from north to south: Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū) and thousands of smaller ones, Japan ('''Japanese:''' ''日本''; ''Nippon'' or ''Nihon''[[note]]Yes, it's just Japan and just ''Nippon''. There is no "Kingdom" or "State" in its title. Officially, the monarch of Japan is called "Emperor" (''Tennō''), which would mean Japan is an empire, but that would bring to mind [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII terrible memories of the 1940s...]][[/note]]) is probably one of East Asia's most famous nations, second only to the [[UsefulNotes/{{China}} Middle Kingdom]]. Known principally as the land of UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}}, {{Samurai}}, {{Ninja}}s (or ''Shinobi'' for those who value historical accuracy), electronic and general consumer {{Mega Corp}}s and incredible innovation (although [[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-21992700 not as much]] today), one-third of the interactive entertainment industry, {{Manga}}, {{Anime}}, an interesting fusion of Orientalist and Western architecture, UsefulNotes/{{kawaisa}}, sushi, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick wartime atrocities, rather-frequent natural disasters, and two cities that bore witness to the true potential of nuclear warfare]]. With a population of 125 million, it is the sixth most populous country in Asia, and the eleventh most populous in the world.

An archipelago off UsefulNotes/{{Asia}}'s eastern coast, comprising of four major islands (from north to south: Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū) and thousands of smaller ones, Japan ('''Japanese:''' ''日本''; ''Nippon'' or ''Nihon''[[note]]Yes, it's just Japan and just ''Nippon''. There is no "Kingdom" or "State" in its title. Officially, the monarch of Japan is called "Emperor" (''Tennō''), which would mean Japan is an empire, but that would bring to mind [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII terrible memories of the 1940s...]][[/note]]) is probably one of East Asia's most famous nations, second only to the [[UsefulNotes/{{China}} Middle Kingdom]]. Known principally as the land of UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}}, {{Samurai}}, {{Ninja}}s (or ''Shinobi'' for those who value historical accuracy), electronic and general consumer {{Mega Corp}}s and incredible innovation (although [[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-21992700 not as much]] today), one-third of the interactive entertainment industry, {{Manga}}, {{Anime}}, an interesting fusion of Orientalist and Western architecture, UsefulNotes/{{kawaisa}}, sushi, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick wartime atrocities, rather-frequent natural disasters, and two cities that bore witness to the true potential of nuclear warfare]]. With a population of 125 million, it is the sixth most populous country in Asia, and the eleventh most populous in the world.

Things changed starting in the early 1st millennium BCE, when sedentary settlements belonging to the Yayoi people began to appear in Western Japan and enveloped most of the country by the 3rd century BCE. They were immigrants from the Korean peninsula, which at that time was settled by Japonic-speaking peoples until they were displaced and assimilated by proto-Koreans in the late 1st millennium[[note]]Some believe that Japonic peoples still existed in Korea until as late as the 6th century CE, in the form of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaya_confederacy Gaya/Kara confederacy]][[/note]], bringing with them new farming techniques, tools, and metallurgy.\\\

An archipelago off UsefulNotes/{{Asia}}'s eastern coast, comprising of four major islands (from north to south: Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū) and thousands of smaller ones, Japan ('''Japanese:''' ''日本''; ''Nippon'' or ''Nihon''[[note]]Yes, it's just Japan and just ''Nippon''. There is no "Kingdom" or "State" in its title. Officially, the monarch of Japan is called "Emperor" (''Tennō''), which would mean Japan is an empire, but that would bring to mind [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII terrible memories of the 1940s...]][[/note]]) is probably East Asia's most famous nation, second only to the [[UsefulNotes/{{China}} Middle Kingdom]]. Known principally as the land of UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}}, {{Samurai}}, {{Ninja}}s (or ''Shinobi'' for those who value historical accuracy), electronic and general consumer {{Mega Corp}}s and incredible innovation (although [[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-21992700 not as much]] today), one-third of the interactive entertainment industry, {{Manga}}, {{Anime}}, an interesting fusion of Orientalist and Western architecture, UsefulNotes/{{kawaisa}}, sushi, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick wartime atrocities, rather-frequent natural disasters, and two cities that bore witness to the true potential of nuclear warfare]]. With a population of 125 million, it is the sixth most populous country in Asia, and the eleventh most populous in the world.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E23ThirtyMinutesOverTokyo "30 Minutes Over Tokyo"]] the family travels to Japan where they reference about every Japanese stereotype and/or reference point possible.

An archipelago off UsefulNotes/{{Asia}}'s eastern coast, comprising of four major islands (from north to south: Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū) and thousands of smaller ones, Japan ('''Japanese:''' ''日本''; ''Nippon'' or ''Nihon''[[note]]Yes, it's just Japan and just ''Nippon''. There is no "Kingdom" or "State" in its title. Officially, the monarch of Japan is called "Emperor" (''Tennō''), which would mean Japan is an empire, but that would bring to mind [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII terrible memories of the 1940s...]][[/note]]) is probably East Asia's most famous nation, second only to the [[UsefulNotes/{{China}} Middle Kingdom]]. Known principally as the land of UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}}, {{Samurai}}, {{Ninja}}s (or ''Shinobi'' for those who value historical accuracy), electronic and general consumer {{Mega Corp}}s and incredible innovation (although [[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-21992700 not as much]] today), one-third of the interactive entertainment industry, {{Manga}}, {{Anime}}, an interesting fusion of Orientalist and Western architecture, UsefulNotes/{{kawaisa}}, sushi, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick rather-frequent natural disasters, and two cities that bore witness to the true potential of nuclear warfare]]. With a population of 125 million, it is the sixth most populous country in Asia, and the eleventh most populous in the world.

'''Both:''' Do-ho-ho-ho-ho!

* '''Lowest point:''' Hachirōgata (−4 m/−13 ft) (30th)

* '''Capital and largest city:''' Tokyo

* Music/DeepPurple recorded their best known LiveAlbum in Osaka: ''Music/MadeInJapan''. Many other hard rock/metal bands afterwards have had live albums recorded in concerts in Japan, such as Music/{{Scorpions}} (''Tokyo Tapes'') and Music/JudasPriest (''Unleashed in the East'').

[[WellIntentionedExtremist Tokugawa was kind of right in the minds]]. Without war or foreign interference, Japan experienced an economic growth not seen since the breakdown of social order two centuries earlier, as well as a stable population growth. Culture and arts flourished in the cities, including {{Geisha}} and Kabuki. During this period, Japan annexed the Ryūkyū Islands (present-day Okinawa and some parts of Kagoshima Prefectures) to the southwest of Kyūshū, which up to 1609 was ruled by an independent kingdom. The kingdom however continued to exist until 1879, when it was absorbed by Imperial Japan. Culturally, the Ryūkyū people are more influenced by China (practically next door) compared to Japan, though their languages are part of the Japonic family, albeit mutually unintelligible to Japanese or even to each other. A notable cultural import from the Ryūkyū Islands is UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}, often mistaken to be Japan's quintessential martial art (UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} is more apt to the title).\\\

** UsefulNotes/KaijuDefenseForce: Japan Self-Defense Force