, Columnist
Japan in 2026: Takaichi, Mario and the Year of the Fire Horse
Coming to a box office near you.
Photographer: Richard A. Brooks/AFP/Getty Images
Every year, the Japanese public votes for a single Chinese character to sum up the past 12 months. In 2025, that was “bear” (熊), after ursine attacks dominated the headlines.
There was a much better option: the character 高, pronounced kou or taka — as in Sanae Takaichi. She made history as the first woman to become the country’s prime minister. But that’s not all — as the character means “high,” it was used in all kinds of phrases that defined 2025.