Every year, the Japanese public votes for a single Chinese character to sum up the past 12 months. In 2025, that was the kanji for ¡°bear,¡± after ursine attacks dominated the headlines.
There was a much better option: the character for taka ¡ª as in Sanae Takaichi. She made history as the first woman to become the country¡¯s prime minister. But that¡¯s not all ¡ª as the character means ¡°high,¡± it was used in all kinds of phrases that defined 2025.
There are high prices, the biggest gripe of the electorate, or U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s excessive tariffs. How about the new highs reached by the Nikkei 225, with the index hitting 50,000 for the first time. After the Bank of Japan¡¯s recent hike, rates are at their highest in three decades. And tensions with China can certainly be described as elevated after Beijing¡¯s backlash against Takaichi¡¯s comments on Taiwan.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.