While 2025 may have been 巳年 (midoshi/hebidoshi, the Year of the Snake) according to the Chinese zodiac, the people at the Japanese Kanji Proficiency Society determined it was actually the year of the 熊 (kuma, bear).

On Dec. 12, the foundation responsible for selecting 今年の漢字 (kotoshi no kanji, kanji of the year), announced that 熊 (yū, kuma) won a nationwide poll. Coming in at a close second was 米 (bei, mai, kome, yone), or “rice,” and 高 (kō, taka[i], taka[maru], taka[meru]) took third place in reference to 物価高 (bukkadaka, high prices of commodities) and its appearance in 高市 (Takaichi), the last name of Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first 女性首相 (josei shushō, female prime minister), who was elected in October.

Anyone who has been in Japan over the past year likely heard about the damage 熊 have been causing. The animal also appeared among Japan’s top 10 buzzwords of the year in the form of 緊急銃猟 (kinkyū jūryō, emergency cull) and クマ被害 (kuma higai, bear-related damage).

The grand prize for buzzwords, however, went to a phrase used by Takaichi upon being elected Liberal Democratic Party president — also a first for a woman: 「働いて働いて働いて働いて働いてまいります (Hataraite hataraite hataraite hataraite hataraite mairimasu), meaning she “came to work, work, work, work, work.” In the same speech, Takaichi also said, 「ワークライフバランスという言葉を捨てます」 (Wāku raifu baransu to iu kotoba o sutemasu, I’m tossing out the term “work-life balance”).

These remarks generated a lot of buzz themselves. Those who have struggled with Japan’s notorious 長時間労働 (chōjikan rōdō, long working hours) and 過労 (karō, overwork) criticized her for encouraging a harmful workplace culture. While some welcomed the idea of being able to work to one’s heart’s content, many thought the remarks were inappropriate for a political leader.

Later, Takaichi said she didn’t mean to tell people to ignore their mental health and told the media, 「皆様の方はワークライフバランスを大事になさってください」 (Mina-sama no hō wa wāku raifu baransu o daiji ni nasatte kudasai, Everyone, please take care to value your work-life balance).

As a 流行語 (ryūkōgo, buzzword), however, were Japanese people actually using 働いて働いて働いて働いて働いて in their daily lives? Personally, I didn’t encounter the phrase until after the buzzword prize was announced. In 2019, the Japanese government launched its 働き方改革 (hataraki-kata kaikaku, work-style reform) to curb excessive working hours and improve productivity. A buzzword prize is unlikely to undermine those efforts.

That said, the prime minister generated other 流行語 in her two months in office. She’s often referred to as “サナ” (sana, Sana) on social media, and her biggest fans engage in サナ活 (Sanakatsu) — a portmanteau of “サナ” and “推し活” (oshikatsu) die-hard fan activities that include buying merchandise with her likeness. Her fiscal policy has also been dubbed サナエノミクス (Sanaenomikusu, Sanaenomics).

Awarding year-end prizes to 流行語 and 新語 (shingo, new words) has become increasingly popular both domestically and overseas. Even the オールドメディア (ōrudo media, old [legacy] media) participates, with dictionary publisher Sanseido awarding ビジュ (biju), an abbreviation of ビジュアル (bijuaru, visual [appearance]), as its 新語 of 2025. Coincidentally, オールドメディア also appeared in the top 10 buzzwords and was No. 2 on Sanseido’s list.

オールドメディア includes TV, radio, magazines and newspapers — like the one you’re reading. Did the inclusion of the word cause any hard feelings among the オールドメディア reporting on it? Well, the online outlet Tokyo.Tweet jokingly shared a TV news segment on X and noted the station neglected to mention オールドメディア being a top 10 流行語.

While Japanese folks debated biased coverage from オールドメディア, English-speaking linguists focused on new media-related terms for their words of the year. The Oxford University Press’ chose “rage bait,” which is literally 怒りの餌 (ikari no esa) but more commonly translated as 炎上狙い (enjō nerai, deliberate blow-up) in Japanese, as in, 炎上狙いの広告が増え続けている (Enjō nerai no kōkoku ga fuetsuzukete iru, The number of ads designed to cause controversy continues to increase).

People have grown more frustrated with the internet, given the recent rise of 低品質なAI生成物 (teihinshitsuna ēai seiseibutsu, low-quality AI-generated content), otherwise known as “AI slop” in English. Last year’s English buzzword, “enshittification” — which loosely translates to カス化 (kasuka), a “cyber cascade” comprising 改悪 (kaiaku, deterioration) and 集団極性化 (shūdan kyokuseika, group polarization) that results in people retreating to their own bubbles online — also highlighted worsening user experiences.

Dictionary.com selected viral nonsense 俗語 (zokugo, slang) “6–7” as its word of the year. Z世代 (Zetto sedai, Gen Z) flips out when they hear the word, which has been linked to NBA star LaMelo Ball’s 6’7" height and the Skrilla song “Doot Doot (6 7),” where the numbers may refer to a police code.

Funny enough, Japan also had a few 流行語 based on memes in 2025, among them エッホエッホ (ehho-ehho), which appeared on several year-end lists. エッホエッホ is an onomatopoeic chant for “huffing and puffing,” originally circulated with a photo of a running baby barn owl taken by Dutch photographer Hannie Heere. It gained popularity when TikTokers began posting clips of themselves running and dancing like a baby owl while narrating their own short skits.

TikTok’s baby-owl sprint may feel trivial next to 熊 or 働いて, but it points to where linguistic culture is actually happening. The symbols selected by institutions still matter, but they no longer set the tone. If 2025 proved anything, it is that Japan’s buzzwords now emerge from two parallel worlds — one curated, one chaotic — and the future of 流行語 will depend on which one people choose to listen to.

Other 2025 top 10 buzzwords** **

• 古古古米 (Kokokomai): The kanji 古 (ko, furu[i], furu[su], inishie) means old, and 古古古米 suggests old rice stockpiled over three years
• トランプ関税 (Toranpu kanzei): “Trump tariffs” dominated the headlines throughout the year
• “国宝” (Kokuhō) / 国宝（観た）(Kokuhō mita): The movie title “国宝” means “national treasure,” and the question 国宝観た？ (Have you seen “Kokuho”?) popped up frequently
• 戦後80年 (Sengo hachijū-nen) / 昭和100年 (Shōwa hyaku-nen): 80 years since the end of World War II / the 100th anniversary of the Showa Era
• 二季 (Niki): Two seasons caused by prolonged summer heat and shorter spring and autumn
• ミャクミャク (Myaku-Myaku): The bizarre official mascot of Osaka’s World Expo, Myaku-Myaku, won over visitors
• しゃばい (Shabai): Taken from, 娑婆 (shaba, the world outside [the prison]), this 1980s slang means “weak,” “uncool” and “boring”