“Kuma” Declared the Kanji of the Year for an “Unbearable” 2025
www.nippon.com
The kanji 熊 (kuma), meaning “bear,” came out on top in popular voting for the kanji of the year for 2025. Powerful wild animals encroaching into human settlements were an irresistible image propelling the character past 米 (kome, “rice”) in a closely contested race.

Apparently the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation decides one of these every year.

This year, 熊 (kuma) was selected, meaning bear. For whatever reason, Japan has had a bunch of bear issues lately.

  • Eagle0110@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    The flip side though is that once you get good work kanji, you can also be very expressive with them in ways not really possible with a phonetic script like the Latin alphabet :p