This is a list of Japanese inventions and discoveries. The Japanese have made contributions across a number of scientific, technological and art domains. In particular, the country has played a crucial role in the digital revolution since the 20th century, with many modern revolutionary and widespread technologies in fields such as electronics and robotics introduced by Japanese inventors and entrepreneurs.

Arts Comic book Adam L. Kern has suggested that kibyoshi, picture books from the late 18th century, may have been the world's first comic books. These graphical narratives share with modern manga humorous, satirical, and romantic themes. Some works were mass-produced as serials using woodblock printing.

Folding hand fan In ancient Japan, the first hand fans were oval and rigid fans, influenced greatly by Chinese fans. The earliest visual depiction of fans in Japan dates back to the 6th century AD, with burial tomb paintings showed drawings of fans. The folding fan was invented in Japan, with dates ranging from the 6th to 9th centuries and later exported to East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the West. Such a flourishing trade involving Japanese hand fans existed in the Ming dynasty times, when folding fans almost absolutely displaced the old rigid type in China. Kabuki Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with traditional dance. Manga The history of manga has origins in scrolls dating back to the 12th century, and it is believed they represent the basis for the right-to-left reading style. During the Edo period (1603–1867), Toba Ehon embedded the concept of manga. The word itself first came into common usage in 1798, with the publication of works such as Santō Kyōden's picturebook Shiji no yukikai (1798), and in the early 19th century with such works as Aikawa Minwa's Manga hyakujo (1814) and the Hokusai Manga books (1814–1834). Nihonga Nihonga is a Japanese style of painting that typically uses mineral pigments, and occasionally ink, together with other organic pigments on silk or paper which was popular during Meiji period. Oil pastel Oil pastel is a type of pastel that uses mixture of non-drying oil and wax as binder which was developed by Kanae Yamamoto. Revolving stage Invented for the Kabuki theatre in Japan in the 18th century, the revolving stage was introduced into Western theater at the Residenz theatre in Munich in 1896 under the influence of japonism fever. Yōga It is a style of artistic painting in Japan, typically of Japanese subjects, themes, or landscapes, but using Western (European) artistic conventions, techniques, and materials.

Film and animation

Anime Japanese animation, or anime, today widely popular both in Japan and abroad, began in the early 20th century.

Man with No Name A stock character that originated with Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961), where the archetype was first portrayed by Toshirō Mifune. The archetype was adapted by Sergio Leone for his Spaghetti Western Dollars Trilogy (1964–1966), with Clint Eastwood playing the role of the "Man with No Name" in Japan. The first depiction of mecha Super Robots being piloted by a user from within a cockpit was introduced in the manga and anime series Mazinger Z by Go Nagai in 1972.

Postcyberpunk animation/film The first postcyberpunk media work in an animated/film format was Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex in 2002. It has been called "the most interesting, sustained postcyberpunk media work in existence." Rashomon effect It is the phenomenon of the unreliability of eyewitnesses which is named after Akira Kurosawa's 1950 Japanese film Rashomon, which itself is based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa's short story "In a Grove", in which a murder is described in four contradictory ways by four witnesses. Steampunk animation The earliest examples of steampunk animation are Hayao Miyazaki's anime works Future Boy Conan (1978), Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and Castle in the Sky (1986).

Superflat A postmodern art form, founded by the artist Takashi Murakami, which is influenced by manga and anime.Natalie Avella, Graphic Japan: From Woodblock and Zen to Manga and Kawaii, Rotovision, 2004, p111.

Architecture

Capsule hotel The first capsule hotel in the world opened in 1979 and was the Capsule Inn Osaka, located in the Umeda district of Osaka, Japan and designed by Kisho Kurokawa. From there, it spread to other cities within Japan. Since then, the concept has further spread to various other territories, including Belgium, China, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, and Poland. Japanese castle Fortresses constructed primarily out of stone and wood used for military defence in strategic locations.

Metabolism A post-war Japanese architectural movement developed by a wide variety of Japanese architects including Kiyonori Kikutake, Kisho Kurokawa and Fumihiko Maki, Metabolism aimed to fuse ideas about architectural megastructures with those of organic biological growth.Lin (2010), p. 23

Tahōtō Tahōtō is a form of Japanese pagoda found primarily at Esoteric Shingon and Tendai school Buddhist temples. Unlike most pagodas, it has two stories.

Atmospheric sciences Downburst Downbursts, strong ground-level wind systems that emanate from a point above and blow radially, were discovered by Ted Fujita.

Fujita scale The first scale designed to measure tornado intensity, the Fujita scale, was first introduced by Ted Fujita (in collaboration with Allen Pearson) in 1971. The scale was widely adopted throughout the world until the development of the Enhanced Fujita scale.

Fujiwhara effect The Fujiwhara effect is an atmospheric phenomenon where two nearby cyclonic vortices orbit each other and close the distance between the circulations of their corresponding low-pressure areas. The effect was first described by Sakuhei Fujiwhara in 1921.

Jet stream Jet streams were first discovered by Japanese meteorologist Wasaburo Oishi by tracking ceiling balloons. However, Oishi's work largely went unnoticed outside Japan because it was published in Esperanto.Ooishi, W. (1926) Raporto de la Aerologia Observatorio de Tateno (in Esperanto). Aerological Observatory Report 1, Central Meteorological Observatory, Japan, 213 pages.

Microburst The microburst was first discovered and identified as a small scale downburst affecting an area 4 km (2.5 mi) in diameter or less by Ted Fujita in 1974. Microbursts are recognized as capable of generating wind speeds higher than 270 km/h (170 mph). In addition, Fujita also discovered macrobursts and classified them as downbursts larger than 4 km (2.5 mi).

Sports Drifting competition In 1988, Keiichi Tsuchiya alongside Option magazine founder and chief editor Daijiro Inada organised the first contest specifically for sliding a car sideways. In 1996, Option organized the first contest outside JapanSuper Street, Issue 4, December 1996 which began to spread to other countries.

Ekiden (Road Relay)

Gateball It was invented by Suzuki Kazunobu in 1947.Guttman, Allen and Lee Thompson (2001) Japanese Sport: A History. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press

Keirin Started as a gambling sport in 1948 and became an Olympic sport in 2000. Board games Gomoku It is also called five in a row, is an abstract strategy board game. It is traditionally played with Go pieces (black and white stones) on a 15×15 Go board Shogi Shogi is an abstract strategy board game for two players similar to chess which is also called as Japanese chess. Sugoroku Sugoroku refers to two different forms of a Japanese board game which is similar to Western snakes and ladders, and ban-sugoroku (盤双六, 'board-sugoroku') which is similar to western tables games like backgammon.

Martial arts

Aikido Aikido was created and developed by Morihei Ueshiba in first half of the 20th century.

Judo It was created as a physical, mental and moral pedagogy in Japan, in 1882, by Kanō Jigorō.

Jujutsu Jujutsu, the "way of yielding", is a collective name for Japanese martial art styles including unarmed and armed techniques. Jujutsu evolved among the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for defeating an armed and armored opponent without weapons. Due to the ineffectiveness of striking against an armored opponent, the most efficient methods for neutralizing an enemy took the form of pins, joint locks, and throws. These techniques were developed around the principle of using an attacker's energy against him, rather than directly opposing it.

Karate It began as a common fighting system known as "ti" (or "te") among the pechin class of the Ryukyuans. There were few formal styles of ti, but rather many practitioners with their own methods. One surviving example is the Motobu-ryū school passed down from the Motobu family by Seikichi Uehara. Motobu-ryū & Seikichi Uehara Early styles of karate are often generalized as Shuri-te, Naha-te, and Tomari-te, named after the three cities from which they emerged.

Kendo It is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu).

Naginatajutsu Naginatajutsu is the martial art of wielding the . The naginata is a weapon resembling the European glaive and the Chinese guan dao. Ninjutsu Developed by groups of people mainly from the Iga Province and Kōka, Shiga of Japan. Throughout history, many different schools (ryū) have taught their unique versions of ninjutsu. An example of these is the Togakure-ryū. This ryū was developed after a defeated samurai warrior called Daisuke Togakure escaped to the region of Iga. Later he came in contact with the warrior-monk Kain Doshi who taught him a new way of viewing life and the means of survival (ninjutsu).Hayes, Stephen. "The Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art." , Tuttle Publishing, 1990: 18–21

Okinawan martial arts In the 14th century, when the three kingdoms on Okinawa (Chūzan, Hokuzan, and Nanzan) entered into a tributary relationship with the Ming dynasty of China, Chinese Imperial envoys and other Chinese arrived, some of whom taught Chinese Chuan Fa (Kempo) to the Okinawans. The Okinawans combined Chinese Chuan Fa with the existing martial art of Te to form , sometimes called . By the 18th century, different types of Te had developed in three different villages – Naha, Shuri, and Tomari. The styles were named Naha-te, Shuri-te, and Tomari-te, respectively. Practitioners from these three villages went on to develop modern karate.

Sumo

According to the Nihon shoki, published in 720, the origin of sumo is the contest of strength between Nomi no Sukune and Taima no Kehaya in 26 B.C. Haniwa of sumo wrestlers are made in the Kofun period (300–538). The imperial family often watches sumo as a form of entertainment in the Heian period (794–1192). It has evolved over the centuries with professional sumo wrestlers appearing in the Edo period (1603–1868).

Video games

Active Time Battle Hiroyuki Ito introduced the "Active Time Battle" system in Final Fantasy IV (1991), where the time-keeping system does not stop. Square Co., Ltd. filed a United States patent application for the ATB system on March 16, 1992, under the title "Video game apparatus, method and device for controlling same" and was awarded the patent on February 21, 1995. On the battle screen, each character has an ATB meter that gradually fills, and the player is allowed to issue a command to that character once the meter is full. The fact that enemies can attack or be attacked at any time is credited with injecting urgency and excitement into the combat system.

Beat 'em up