KYOTO, Dec 13 (News On Japan) –
The Kanji of the Year for 2025 was introduced at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto on December twelfth, with the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation deciding on the character for bear for the primary time after nationwide sightings, record-high harm and accidents.
At Kiyomizu, Seihan Mori, the chief priest, brushed the character in massive strokes throughout a sheet of conventional Japanese paper measuring roughly 1.5 meters tall and 1.3 meters extensive. The annual occasion started in 1995 and marks its thirty first version this 12 months, with submissions gathered by the affiliation’s web site and postcards from throughout the nation. Out of 189,122 complete entries, bear obtained 23,346 votes.
Bear-related incidents had a deep affect on day by day life all through 2025, as sightings unfold into city areas, forcing the cancellation of occasions and short-term college closures. Attention additionally centered on the return of 4 pandas from Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, to China.
The second-most chosen character was rice, which trailed the best choice by solely 180 votes and mirrored each the surge in rice costs and the inauguration of U.S. President Trump. Third place went to excessive, related to persistent inflation and the rise of Sanae Takaichi, who grew to become Japan’s first feminine prime minister.
As 2025 enters its last weeks, Kiyomizu Temple as soon as once more served because the stage for the announcement. Among these predicting the result was Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, who mentioned, with out breaking from her practice of thought, “I thought it would be one of these two, and I really believed it had to be one or the other. This year in politics began with rice, and in the second half it led to the establishment of the Takaichi administration, whose approval rating thankfully remains high, though rice prices are also still high.”
The character unveiled shortly after 2 p.m. was bear, chosen in opposition to a backdrop of rising encounters nationwide that pushed each the variety of victims and fatalities to file highs. Rice adopted in second place after reaching its highest common value on file, whereas excessive got here in third, symbolizing each Takaichi’s historic premiership and the broader squeeze of rising client costs.
Source: Kyodo