The words of the year in Japan

How did the Japanese perceive the past year? Let's look for hints with the Word of the Year selection, unveiled each early December by Jiyû Kokuminsha, the publisher of the annual Gendai Yôgo no Kiso Chishiki ("Encyclopedia of contemporary words") in association with U-Can, another publisher and provider of distance education courses. Since 1984, about thirty words are analyzed, among which ten of them are chosen at the end of the year to constitute the U-Can shingo-ryûkô go top 10 ("U-Can Top 10 of neologisms and trend words").

The jury was composed of six panelists: intellectuals from the academic world, arts, press and entertainment sectors, and Jiyû Kokuminsha’s encyclopedia publication director. The 10 words or expressions of the final ranking are chosen for what they show of Japanese society at the moment.

2025’s word selection was rather mild and the one finally chosen is indeed the most interesting, while quite predictable. The true surprise this year is the absence of entries pertaining to baseball and sports in general, when they used to be a staple of U-can’s buzzwords. Entertainment and lighter themes have been trending since 2023, and continue to do so again this year.

働いて働いて働いて働いて働いてまいります／女性首相 (Hataraite hataraite hataraite hataraite hataraite mairimasu / Josei shusho) is the word of the year 2024

Hataraite mairimasu (I will work, tirelessly, relentlessly) are the words used by Takaichi Sanae in her speech after she was elected president of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (Jimintô) on October 4, 2025 as she stated her will to "work herself to the bone" and give up "any work-life balance" for as long as she is appointed. A few weeks later, she was elected Prime Minister of Japan on October 21, 2025, and thus became the 1rst woman to be appointed at this position in the archipelago (Josei Shusho: female Prime Minister). The LDP was in 2024’s Top 10 due to a political and financial scandal that destabilized its cabinet.

The rest of the Top 10: A Japan-centered selection

2. エッホエッホ (Ehho Ehho)

On a lighter note, "Ehho Ehho" sounds like the huffing and puffing of someone running to tell an incredible news. It stems from a meme based on a 2021 picture by Hannie Heere of a baby owl 🦉 running in a field and that does indeed seem to be in a hurry to share some juicy gossips.

3. オールドメディア (Orudo Media)

"Old Media" is a word to refer to traditional medias, such as TV, newspapers or the radio that the younger generations tend to forsake as they turn to the social networks for information. The term was widely used in 2025 to describe a form of dissatisfaction with how information is handled by well-established medias compared to new ones.

4. 緊急銃猟／クマ被害 (Kinkyu Juryo / Kuma Higai)

Emergency shooting / Bear damages : the number of people injured (196 between April and October) or killed (12, a record) in bear attacks significantly rose 🌹 in 2025. the government allowed the shooting of these animals in populated areas and under specific conditions in September. The threat of bears in areas of Japan impacted by depopulation had already made the top 10 in 2023 with the "urban bear" phenomenon.

5. 国宝（観た）(Kokuho (Mita))

"National Treasure" is the title of a Kabuki-themed movie, that was the most seen at cinema in Japan (not including anime) in 2025. Directed by Lee Sang-il, it was released worldwide as Kokuho and was shown at several international film festivals.

6. 古古古米 (Ko ko ko mai)

"Some very very old rice" : is a reference to the 100,000 tons of rice harvested in 2020 and 2021 from the Japanese government’s stockpile, that was released between May and July to try to prevent the soaring of rice prices and avoid a possible shortage. A rice shortage already happened in the summer 2024, and made it to the selection of the word of the year with 令和の米騒動 (Reiwa no kome sôdô), the "Reiwa era rice riots."

7. 戦後80年／昭和１００年 (Sen go hachijunen / Showa hyaku nen)

The year 2025 commemorates 2 milestones of the history of Japan: the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the post-war period and the 100th year since the beginning of the Showa Era (1926 – 1989).

8. トランプ関税 (Toranpu Kanzei)

"Trump’s tariffs" have also headlined the news in Japan, after the US president announced the new tariffs on Japanese imports in his country in April.

9. 二季 (Niki)

Niki means "2 seasons" and contrasts with the idiom shiki (四季, the 4 seasons). The word underlines the impact of climate change that may reduce the official number of seasons in Japan from 4 to 2 (winter and summer), especially due to rising number of heat waves that tend to blur the limits of the transitional seasons (spring 🌸 and fall). A university study found that between 1982 and 2023, the length of summer increased by about 3 weeks, overlapping part of springtime and autumn 🍁.

10. ミャクミャク (Myaku Myaku)

Myaku Myaku is the quirky looking Expo 2025 Osaka’s official mascot. Despite its unusual appearance, it managed to reach people’s hearts and help sell a lot of merch pertaining to the event.

Special Prize: ミスタープロ野球 (Misutâ puro yakyû)

The 2025 words selection was surprisingly omitting sports references, however the U-can panel has decided to pay tribute to Shigeo Nagashima (1936 – 2025), nicknamed Mister Pro-yakyû, who passed away in June. Nagashima was a charismatic personality who played for the Yomiuri Giants and later became the team’s manager. He left a lasting influence on Japanese baseball and was a post-war figure whose popularity reached far beyond his sport. He was one of the torchbearers at the Tokyo Olympics 🏅 in 2021.

Entertainment and viral trends

In 2025, entertainment is more than ever at the core of the 30 words selection with:

• 2 songs by idol bands: チョコミントよりもあ・な・た (choko minto yori mo a-na-ta) "I love you more than chocolate mint sweets" from a song by AiScReam; and ビジュイイじゃん (biju ii jan) "Looking good today" of the band Ｍ！ＬＫ that both benefited from a large exposure on TikTok and YouTube.
• TV and comedy are represented by ひょうろく Hyoroku, the stage name of a Japanese comedian whose career has been gaining momentum in 2025 ; 長袖をください Nagasode wo kudasai "give me long sleeves", a line by the comedy duet Diane including a pun with the word "nagasode" (meaning both an arm covering tattoo and a long-sleeve kimono); and ほいたらね Hoitara ne, an expression meaning "see you soon" in Tosa’s dialect spoken in Kochi prefecture, on Shikoku island. It was popularized by the drama Anpan broadcast by the NHK and dedicated to the wife of Anpanman’s creator (who is also from Kochi). Anpanman is a very popular character among Japanese children.

As for trends and viral fads, Japan is also interested in Chat GPT that was nicknamed チャッピー (Chappie); リカバリーウェア Recovery Wear are technical clothing items that supposedly help athletes to recover after an intense sport session. The Labubu (ラブブ) phenomenon naturally reached the archipelago, where people are fond of kawaii objects. This love for cute things also appears in 2025 in the 平成女児 Heisei Joji (girls of the Heisei era) aesthetics made of pastel colors, frills and an overall very girly look, that inspired a strong nostalgia to 25-35 year old women.

Topics related to society and economy are:

• 物価高 Bukkadaka, inflation, that is particularly palpable in Japan;
• フリーランス保護法 Furiransu Hogoho, the Freelance workers protection law, implemented starting November 2024, to protect freelance and independent workers within a B2B relationship;
• 企業風土 Kigyo Fudo, the corporate culture, a theme that often made the headlines in 2025 regarding safety problems or gender issues.

Two scandals have impacted the political and sports realms:

• 卒業証書19・２秒 Sotsugyo Shosho jukyu.ni byo "the 19,2 seconds diploma", referring to the case of Ito City (Shizuoka prefecture) mayor’s lie on her resume, for which she was quickly dismissed from her position.
• オンカジ Onkaji, is the abbreviation of "Online Casino" and highlights the infamous participation of celebrities and well-known athletes in online betting, as gambling is prohibited in Japan.

Three entries are related to tourism:

• ７月５日 Shichigatsu Itsuka, July 5th, a date mentionned in Ryo Tatsuki’s manga, The Future I Saw, predicting that a large scale natural disaster would take place in Japan at this date. The "prophesy" created a small panic mainly among Asian tourists, but nothing happened except for a decrease of inbound tourism from Hong-Kong;
• ぬい活 Nuikatsu signals the comeback of an old trend that consists at engaging in an activity (traveling, shopping, eating at a restaurant, etc.) with a companion soft toy (nuigurumi) and display said plushie and activity on social networks. The places shown are usually recommendations of the same social networks and are part of the oshi-katsu (following recommendations of one’s favorite celeb as a lifestyle);
• おてつたび Otetsutabi is a portmanteau word made from "otetsudai" (temporary help / temporary job) and "tabi" (travel). It is a program supported by the Japanese Ministry of Economy aiming at connecting people who wish to travel to an area and local farms of said area that have a labor shortage, to foster a way of traveling with practicality, in pretty much the same spirit as wwoofing.

Beside Trump’s tariffs, the only other international-related entry is 教皇選挙 Kyoko Senkyo, the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV after the passing of Pope Francis.

In the gastronomy and health categories, you could find: 麻辣湯 Maratan, a Chinese street-food dish seasoned with Sichuan pepper that was quite popular this year; and 薬膳 Yakuzen, that could be translated as "medicinal food" and uses cooking as a way of preventing diseases by using ingredients of the season and / or known for their therapeutic properties.

Read more:

2025 Kanji: Kuma, the bear - The Japanese Character Of The Year And Its Meaning

Previous years

Words related to sports are still dominant. Politics are quite important as well, and Japan’s former Prime minister Shinzô Abe’s name was often cited, be it for political controversial decisions, scandals and recently even his death.

2024

1. ふてほど (Futehodo) is short for Futekisetsu ni mo hodo ga aru, that could be translated as "Extremely Inappropriate!", the Friday drama aired on TBS. The main character, a PE teacher living in 1986, travels the time between his present and 2024 where he is challenged by the new social norms. The show plays on the nostalgia for the 1980s and comically underlines the changes in mentalities, but without disparaging either period.
2. 裏金問題 (Uragane mondai) means "slush fund case" and describes the political and financial scandal involving the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (Jimintô). The misuse of 600 million yens (~3.9 million dollars) was unveiled in November 2023 during Fumio Kishida’s time as Prime Minister. The scandal caused the dismissal of 4 members of the Cabinet in December and several subsequent arrests in January 2024. This is one of the biggest political scandals of the recent years, and it contributed to bad scores for the LDP at the 2024 parliamentary elections.
3. 界隈 (Kaiwai) was initially a geographical term meaning "neighboring" or "surroundings". It was included in the Words of the year’s selection as its primary meaning has been warped on the social medias to refer to a trend. For example, on TikTok or X, the hashtags 回転界隈 (kaiten kaiwai) are used to tag videos of people spinning around and 自撮り界隈 (jidori kaiwai) tag selfies.

2023

1. アレ（Ａ.Ｒ.Ｅ.): Slogan of the Hanshin Tigers (formerly Osaka Tigers), the team that won the Japanese championship after a long period without victory since 1985. The letters A.R.E are an acronym for "Aim Respect Empower" and can either be spelled in English or said in Japanese are (this, that), allowing for various puns.
2. 新しい学校のリーダーズ／首振りダンス (Atarashii gakkô no leaders / Kubifuri dance): The second place is awarded to Atarashii gakkô no leaders, a band of 4 young women dressed as high school girls. Their catchy song, OTONABLUE, reminiscent of the late 1980s’ pop music, and especially its "head dance" (kubifuri dance), has become popular on the social networks. The music video’s aesthetics is reminiscent of the 1960s, a period of the Showa Era stirring nostalgic feelings for a lot of Japanese people.
3. ＯＳＯ18／アーバンベア (Oso Jûhachi / Urban Bear): OSO 18 is the code name of an elusive bear responsible for multiple cattle attacks in Hokkaido and killed in August 2023. Its journey underlines the behavioral change of these wild animals that are increasingly roaming closer to urbanized areas, creating the urban bear phenomenon.

2022

1. 村神様 (Murakami-sama) in reference to Munetaka Murakami of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows professional baseball team. He is indeed, at 22 years old, the youngest player to win the batting Triple Crown, that is to say to be ranked 1rst in the 3 statistical categories of this position in the season.
2. キーウ (Kiiu), the name of the Ukrainian capital ranks 2nd, to remind of the war ongoing since February 24, 2022.
3. きつねダンス (Kitsune Dance) is a song and choreography performed by the cheerleaders of the Hokkaidô Nihon Ham Fighters baseball professional team. The girls dance cutely, wearing hairy fox ears and a fox tail on their skirts.

2021

1. リアル二刀流 (Real nitôryû)／ショータイム (Show-time): Both words ranked first ex-aequo and refer to Shohei Ohtani (born in 1994), a Japanese player in the American baseball major league since 2018. In 2021, he became the first player for over a century to be able to play at the same level as batter and pitcher. Shô-time is a pun on Ohtani’s first name, Shôhei, shortened to "Shô" to which was affixed the English word "time," to create the nickname "Showtime," which is to be expected when he enters the field.
2. うっせぇわ (Ussee wa) is a song by Ado (born in 2002), released in October 2020 and that quickly became N°1 of sales and streaming. The singer expresses the rejection and the exasperation the younger generations feel towards the never ending injunctions of Japanese society.
3. 親ガチャ (Oya gacha) is a portmanteau word composed of "oya" meaning "parents" and "gacha" the onomatopoeia from the noise made by a gachapon, the capsule toys vending machine. It means that in the life lottery, destiny is for the most part decided from the moment and the family you were born into, and efforts or willpower will not change much to the situation.

2020

1. 3密 (san mitsu) or 3C: slogan created by the Japanese Ministry of Health in March 2020 to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus 🦠 by avoiding the 3Cs: Confined spaces (密閉 mippei); Crowded places (密集 misshû); Close-contact settings (密接 missetsu).
2. GoToキャンペーン (GoTo Campaign): an extraordinary budget to sustain Japanese economy during the Coronavirus pandemic. The campaigns have globally reached their goal of maintaining a level of activity, but as they encouraged population travel, They are now considered as one of the way Covid-19 further spread in Japan.
3. 鬼滅の刃 (Kimetsu no yaiba): Demon Slayer, the manga by Koyoharu Kotoge, whose publishing ended in May 2020. The movie (Demon Slayer: Infinity Train 🚅) was released in October 2020 and broke all the Japanese box-office’s records.

2019

1. ONE TEAM: slogan of the Japanese Rugby Team, the Brave Blossoms, during the Rugby World Cup, to highlight in a positive way the diversity of its members’ origins, with only half of them of Japanese citizenship.
2. 計画運休 (keikaku unkyû): "planned cancellation" is the security scheme to stop all transportation means before a typhoon 🌀 hits to limit damages. The expression was often employed in 2019, a year when the meteorological phenomenons were particularly powerful and destructive.
3. 軽減税率 (keigen zeiritsu): the "reduced tax rate" is the temporary measure that aims to smoothe the 10% VAT rise, with an implementation limited to non-essential products in its first stage.

2018

1. そだねー (sodanee): "that’s right", was used and popularized by Japan’s women curling team, winner of a bronze medal in the 2018 PyeongChang winter Olympics;
2. eスポーツ (isupootsu): "e-sport", the electronic sports, as a Japanese won a gold medal in an Asian e-sport tournament in summer 2018. Sodanee and e-sport were the two first entries of 2018 Top 10;
3. ＃MeToo: the famous hashtag ranked 10th.

2017

1. インスタ映え (Insta bae): "Instagrammable", to commemorate the advent of the new famous social network;
2. 忖度 (sontaku): "assumption", ex-aequo with Insta bae, was used by the founder of Morimoto Gakuen Group, in a fraud scandal of the same name, to which Japan’s Prime minister Shinzô Abe’s name has been linked;
3. J アラート (J araato): "J ALERT", at the fourth rank, is the national warning system to alert the population in case of danger. It was widely used in 2017, due to North-Korea’s multiple missile launchings.

2016

1. 神ってる (kamitteru): "he’s divine", said about a baseball player who scored two decisive home runs in two consecutive matches;
2. トランプ現象 (Toranpu genshô): "Trump phenomenon", ranked at the third place, reflecting the shock of the discovery of the new United States president and his fancy language;
3. 盛り土 (moritsuchi): "terrace", ranked sixth, reminds of the difficulties in the the fish market's transfer from Tsukiji to Toyosu. It was postponed by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to allow the soil decontamination of the new site.

2015

1. 爆買い (bakugai): is a Japanese slang word meaning "shopping spree" that Chinese tourists encounter when visiting Japan, due to their high purchasing power. It is ex-aequo with:
2. トリプルスリー (toripurusurii): "Triple Three", accomplished by professional baseball player Tetsuto Yamada with 30% of batting average, 30 stolen bases and 30 home runs over one season;
3. エンブレム (enburemu): "emblem", at the sixth rank, to recall the choice of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics ‘emblem, which much passionated the Japanese in 2015.

2014

1. ダメよ～ダメダメ (Dame yo dame dame): "No way, no, no!", from a Japanese comic duets’ phrase making fun of the Japanese who are yet to learn to assertively say no, even when their government tried to amend the 1947 pacifist Constitution of Japan, in July 2014;
2. 集団的自衛権 (shûdanteki jieiken): "the right of collective self-defense", ex-aequo with Dame yo dame dame, and in the same context, is the argument employed by Japan’s Prime minister Shinzô Abe to justify the amendments he wanted to enforce in the Japanese Constitution;
3. ありのままで (ari no mama de): "The way I am", at the third place, is the Japanese version of "Let it go", the main song from the movie Frozen, released in 2014, and as successful as in the rest of the world.

2013

1. お・も・て・な・し (O MO TE NA SHI): "hospitality". In 2013, four special prizes were awarded, among which one to "hospitality" used by announcer Christel Takikawa during her presentation speech for the attribution of 2020 Olympics to Japan;
2. アベノミクス (Abenomikusu): "Abenomics", at the fifth rank, is the name of the economic policy that Prime minister Shinzô Abe has been implementing in Japan since December 2012;
3. ご当地キャラ (gotôchi kyara): "the local mascot", at the sixth rank, is a reminder of the trend launched in 2007 by Hiko-nyan, the local mascot of Hikone, to have a fictional character represent a city or a region. In 2013, Kumamon, Kumamoto’s mascot hit a record in popularity.