How do Japanese particles mark subjects and objects in a sentence?

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Japanese calligraphy — Japanese language Record of a haiku exchange on *kaishi* writing paper by Japanese poet Bashō and one of his pupils in the teacher's own handwriting, 17th century, from a hanging scroll (ink on paper).

In the Japanese language, grammatical relations such as subjects and objects are indicated by enclitic particles, which are attached to the end of nouns.1

Nominative Case: The particle -ga is used to mark the subject of a sentence, particularly when describing an event in a neutral manner.1
Accusative Case: The particle -o is used to mark the direct object of a verb.1

For example, in the sentence Tarō-ga ringo-o kau ("Taro buys an apple"), Tarō is marked as the subject with -ga, and ringo ("apple") is marked as the object with -o.1

Additionally, Japanese utilizes the particle -wa to mark a noun as the "topic" of discussion. While -wa can sometimes overlap with the subject, it serves a different functional role than the nominative -ga. A sentence using -wa (e.g., John-wa kita) contrasts with a basic, neutral description using -ga (e.g., John-ga kita), as the former specifically highlights the referent as the topic of the conversation.1