By Carson Foushee
Beginning in 1995, a national poll has helped to select the kanji (Chinese character) that best describes the year that was in Japan. A grand public announcement is made in mid-December of the winner at one of Kyoto’s most famous temples when a priest writes the kanji in calligraphy on a piece of traditional Japanese paper about 5 feet high and 3 feet wide. This tradition has helped to keep a record of the most important events and stories throughout the decades.
Sometimes a kanji is used to describe a single event, while in other years it has portrayed a collection of events. In 2013, Japan celebrated a successful bid to receive the 2020 Olympics with the kanji 輪 meaning “rings” as in the Olympic rings. In 2018, the kanji 災 meaning “disaster” was chosen to represent not only the effects of two natural disasters, but also a nuclear plant accident and a scandal at Mitsubishi Motors. The kanji of the year for 2025 was 熊 meaning “”bear.” Japan saw a surge in bear attacks that lead to record numbers of injuries and fatalities. Heightened anxiety accompanied the damage of crops in rural areas, school closures and event cancellations. There also was the return of four of Japan’s six panda bears to China.
I was first introduced to this tradition during Japanese language school when challenged by a teacher to consider a kanji that defined my own year. While I had considered resolutions for a new year, I had never really taken time to try and put the previous year into a single word. Since 2017, Laura I have adopted the custom as our own.
That first year the kanji 変 meaning “change” defined a move to Tokyo that included adjusting to life in one of the world’s largest cities and a shift from working life back into the classroom as full-time language students. Since then, words like 親 meaning “parent” in celebration of the birth of our first child, 待 meaning “waiting” in reflection of our long wait for a visa to return to Japan during COVID and 築 meaning “build” connected to new relationships built after our return to Kanazawa, have defined several of our years.
My kanji for 2025 is 旅 meaning “travel.” This is in reflection of the above normal level of travel that both Laura and I undertook in the 2025 calendar year. My family traveled for Thailand, Tokyo and Nagoya for ministry actives. Laura traveled to America twice for CBF meetings, which included the 2025 General Assembly in St. Louis. I traveled to Brisbane, Australia for the Baptist World Alliance’s 23rd Baptist World Congress. I traveled to Hiroshima and Nagasaki toprepare for a 2026 peacemaking mission experience with a CBF partner congregation. I traveled about once a month to the Noto Peninsula to serve along with local partners in earthquake relief. My family also traveled for fun to Lake Biwa, Tokyo Disneyland and a special end of year trip to Hawaii. On a larger scale, I also continue to travel in faith alongside our local church in Kanazawa and our friends across the globe as pilgrims on the journey of faith.
As I enter 2026, I seek to keep my eyes open to the world around me and how God is at work within me as I prepare to continue to this tradition.
What word best describes your 2025?