Humans Frequently Attacked, 'Bear' Selected as Japan’s Kanji of the Year

On December 12th, Japan announced the Kanji of the Year, "Bear (熊)", which won over the highly anticipated character "Rice (米)" by a difference of 180 votes.

Since 1995, Japan has announced a "Kanji of the Year" every December 12th, chosen by a public vote to symbolize the entire year. The chief priest of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto is then invited to write the chosen character in calligraphy live on site.

According to data released by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment on December 5th, within the eight months up to the end of November, 13 people have died from bear attacks and 217 have been injured. 

The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation stated that out of 189,122 votes, "Bear (熊)" received 23,346 votes, likely due to the frequent reports of bear-related harm across the country. The second place character was "Rice (米)" which, in addition to representing the sharp rise in Japanese rice prices, is also used as the kanji abbreviation for America. With the U.S. presidential term of Donald Trump making an impact on the Japanese public, "Rice (米)" garnered 23,166 votes, a mere 180 less than "Bear (熊)".

The third place was the character "High (高)", which not only symbolizes Japan’s first female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (the kanji "高" in her surname), but also relates to high commodity prices. It received 18,300 votes. The fourth place was "Pulse (脉)" with 6,418 votes, and the fifth place was "Ten Thousand (万)" with 5,656 votes.