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 (测ū, kuma) won a nationwide poll. Coming in at a close second was 米 (bei, mai, kome, yone), or “rice,” and 高 (办ō, 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 (kink测ū jūryō, emergency cull) and クマ被害 (kuma higai, bear-related damage).
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