What were the words and topics that Japanese couldn’t get enough of? What were the buzzwords on everyone’s lips?
(First part)
Trending Word 4. Animal Crossing (あつ森）
Trending Word 2: Amabie
Trending Word 1: 3Cs
It’s no secret that COVID-19-related news and the fight against the virus has overwhelmed most of us this year. To mark this, JAPAN Forward is putting together a special to wrap-up the coverage of COVID-19 in Japan, and how people managed to stay cheerful and resilient despite the times.
In this series, however, we picked a selection from the popular “Trending Topic of The Year” award, a prize which conveniently recognizes the handful of buzzwords Japanese could get enough of.
From the words encountered, our readers will be able to get a taste of the most trending topics in Japan in 2020, and read more in our coverage, culminating in this year’s winner of the top prize.
With one topic per day, for five days from December 14 to December 20, make sure you stay tuned to the most popular topics among the Japanese this year!
5. Online 「〇〇」
Like many places around the world, life was completely changed with COVID-19 in Japan.
The first group to be affected were students, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked all students to stay home from the end of February.
We covered how people could use this opportunity to learn from other members of the family while they adapted to the reality of online classes.
Children Can Learn at Home ― with Senior Schoolmate Dads and Moms
When first certain regions, then the whole country entered the State of Emergency in early April, professionals also had to adapt to online meetings, telework, all things that existed before the pandemic but become even more necessary.
Tokyo During COVID-19: Green Space, Rise of Telework Bring New Lifestyle Opportunities
With change, came new ways to connect online. The popular singer-songwriter Gen Hoshino called netizens to share their version of a song he composed especially for the period, Let’s Dance on the Inside.
#StayHome: Japanese Musician Gen Hoshino Collaborates with Netizens to Fight COVID-19
Creative individuals found ways to self express and create a sense of community online. This was the example of Manami Sasaki and her breakfast bread creations on instagram!
‘Stay Home Asagohan’: Morning Meals Get Creative with Manami Sasaki
A lot of the entertainment industry also moved online.
Concerts and film festivals that normally would occur in person in great pomp and circumstance moved online and found ways to reinvent themselves.
‘Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia’ Begins With New Theme for 2020: (New) Borderless
“Back in Harmony” The King’s Singers Bring A Live Concert Online for Fans All Over the World
In a time when it was not advisable to meet, people were even encouraged to follow online Sumo courses!
[Corona ni Makeruna] Stay Fit at Home, Doing Sumo!
Unusual times brought a lot of things online in new and unexpected ways, it’s no surprise that Online maru maru was one of the trendings words of the year 2020 in Japan.
Stay tuned to find out more trending words in Japan during 2020!
Author: JAPAN Forward
