We begin our story in Kanto, a region of Japan which includes Tokyo, where a bored, genius Japanese high school student wearing a Japanese school uniform stares out the window of his Japanese high school in Japan. He is bored in his English foreign language class (they are learning English as s foreign language because they are in Japan, not America). Outside, he finds a noto or “note” which is the Japanese word for notebook dropped by a Shinigami a Japanese Death God in Japan.
The Japanese high school student, Light Yagami (unique names like “Light” sometimes called DQN names, were a popular trend in the 70s/for his parent’s generation in Japan) goes home, takes off his shoes (because they are in Japan), shows his mother, Sachiko, his amazing grades (a Japanese cultural expectation that shows he’s doing alright). He helps his sister, Sayu, with her homework because he is a dutiful elder brother. They watch J-pop and eat sushi. A few episodes later, they are joined by his father, Souichiro, who works very hard as Chief of the Japanese police. A taskforce forms to
take on Kira–Shuichi Aizawa, Touta Matsuda, Kanzo Mogi, Hideki Ide, and Hirozaku Ukita. They are Japanese not white.
Using this notebook Light becomes Kira, the Japanese word for killer and is hunted by the Japanese police in Japan. And while the FBI later gets in on the action and they visit America once most of the action still takes place in Japan and Light Yagami still isn’t white and neither is Misa.
Misa Amane who is also Japanese and has naturally dark hair which she dyed blonde and uses color contacts as is the style for some idols in Japan and who was born in Osaka which is in Japan.