1,500 T members make their big predictions for this year's awards in the annual end-of-year awards survey! "Kanji of the Year" is "Hen" (Strange), "New Word/Buzzword of the Year" is "PPAP", and "Best Dresser Award: Sports/Entertainment" is "Shohei Otani"

2016.11.30 Press Releases
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.

-The No. 1 movie this year is "Your Name."", and the TV drama "Nigehaji"

Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce that it has conducted its annual end-of-year award survey using the online "T Survey," targeting 1,500 men and women aged 18 to 69 who use T Cards.

Annual year-end awards survey digest

●Which kanji character is most likely to be chosen as "Kanji of the Year"?
　1st place: Weird 2nd place: Surprise 3rd place: Gold
●Which word is likely to be selected as this year's "New Word/Buzzword Award"?
　1st place: PPAP 2nd place: The Trump phenomenon 3rd place: Pokemon GO
●Who is likely to be selected as this year's "Best Dressed Award: Sports/Entertainment Category"?
　1st place: Shohei Otani 2nd place: Masaki Suda 3rd place: Satomi Ishihara
●Which artists and songs are likely to be selected for the Record of the Year award at this year's Japan Record Awards?
　1st place: Zenzenzense / RADWIMPS 2nd place: A Bouquet for You / Utada Hikaru 3rd place: Hero / Amuro Namie
●What were the No. 1 movies and TV dramas this year?
　Movie...1st place: Your Name. 2nd place: Shin Godzilla 3rd place: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
　TV drama... 1st place: It's embarrassing to run away, but it's useful 2nd place: Doctor X 3rd place: The woman who sells houses

*Company names and product/service names mentioned in this press release are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.
*The survey will be conducted before the nominations for the New Word and Buzzword Award and the Japan Record Award are announced.

●Which kanji character is most likely to be chosen as "Kanji of the Year"?

　1st place: Weird 2nd place: Surprise 3rd place: Gold

There is only one month left in this year. This year has been another memorable one, filled with a variety of news and topics, and we once again conducted our annual survey for the "Annual Year-End Awards" by surveying 1,500 men and women aged 18 to 69.
The "Kanji of the Year" is announced at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto every year on December 12th, Kanji Day, as a character that represents the state of affairs of the year. When asked to give their own response as to which kanji they would choose this year, the most frequently chosen kanji was "hen" (7.2%). This year has seen a number of news stories that suggest the world is on the brink of major changes, such as Britain's withdrawal from the EU, Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election, and Yuriko Koike becoming the governor of Tokyo. The second most common response was "surprise" (5.2%). Trump's victory in the presidential election, drastically overturning pre-election predictions, sent shock waves around the world. Additionally, within Japan, there was a lot of surprising news, such as the disbandment of SMAP and the cancellation of the Toyosu Market relocation. The third most popular answer was "gold" (4.7%). I'm sure you still remember the rush of gold medals won by Japanese athletes at the Rio Olympics this summer, which excited the nation. Looking at the results of this year's survey, which showed a wide range of choices in the kanji chosen, it is clear that this year has been one that has left a variety of impacts on many people.

●Which word is likely to be selected as this year's "New Word/Buzzword Award"?

　1st place: PPAP 2nd place: The Trump phenomenon 3rd place: Pokemon GO

Next, we asked them to predict which word they thought would be selected as the grand prize winner in this year's U-CAN New Word and Buzzword Awards. Since this survey was conducted as an open-ended response before the nominations were announced, similar words were standardized to the nominated words. Taking the top spot was "PPAP" (28.0%) by Piko Taro, a globally renowned song that has become so popular that it's rare to hear it on TV these days, with one in three to four people naming it the grand prize. In second place was the "Trump phenomenon" (9.6%), sparked by the next US president, Donald Trump, whose future political trends are attracting attention from around the world. In third place was the mega online game "Pokemon GO" (8.8%), which was downloaded by approximately 20 million people in a short period of time.

●Who is likely to be selected as this year's "Best Dressed Award: Sports/Entertainment Category"?

　1st place: Shohei Otani 2nd place: Masaki Suda 3rd place: Satomi Ishihara

Next is the "Best Dresser Award," which has been selected from fields such as politics and economics, academia and culture, sports and entertainment for the past 40 years. Among these, we focused on the "Sports and Entertainment" category and asked people to predict who they thought would win the 2016 "Best Dresser Award." The top choice was Shohei Ohtani (6.7%) of the Nippon-Ham Fighters, who became the first player in history to win both the awards as pitcher and designated hitter in this season's Best Nine, which was announced just the other day. Coming in second place was Masaki Suda (6.0%), who has been very active this year in a number of films including "Drowning Love" and "Assassination Classroom."In third place was Satomi Ishihara (5.5%), who has also appeared in hit films and dramas such as "Shin Godzilla" and "The Amazing Proofreader: Kawano Etsuko" (The Secret Life of a Subtle Woman).

●Which artists and songs are likely to be selected for the Record of the Year award at this year's Japan Record Awards?

　1st place: Zenzenzense / RADWIMPS 2nd place: A Bouquet for You / Utada Hikaru 3rd place: Hero / Amuro Namie

Next, we asked participants to predict the artist and song they thought would win this year's Record of the Year at the 58th annual Japan Record Awards, a year-end music festival (this survey was conducted before the nominations were announced, so some artists and song titles were not included).The number one choice was the artist and song title from the hit movie "Your Name."The song that was mentioned was "Zenzenzense/RADWIMPS," which is also the theme song for the drama. Coming in second place was "A Bouquet for You" by Utada Hikaru, the theme song for the previous NHK morning drama series "Toto Neechan."Coming in third place was "Hero" by Namie Amuro, the theme song for NHK's broadcast of this year's Rio de Janeiro Olympic and Paralympic Games.

●What were the No. 1 movies and TV dramas this year?

　Movie...1st place: Your Name. 2nd place: Shin Godzilla 3rd place: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
　TV drama... 1st place: It's embarrassing to run away, but it's useful 2nd place: Doctor X 3rd place: The woman who sells houses

Finally, we asked what the No. 1 movie and TV drama of the year were. First, in the "Movies" category, we asked people who saw movies at the cinema this year, and the top answer was "Your Name" by director Makoto Shinkai, which also took first place in the box office rankings this year. ” (32.2%) was chosen by an overwhelming majority. Coming in second place was "Shin Godzilla" (10.9%), the 29th film in the Godzilla series produced by Toho and directed by Hideaki Anno, who is also famous for directing Evangelion. Coming in third place was "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (7.5%), the seventh live-action film in the "Star Wars" series. Looking at the results by age group, apart from the top three, "Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare" ranked third among those aged 18-29, and "Sully" ranked fourth among those aged 50-69.
Next, we asked what the best TV drama of the year was, and the number one choice was "Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu" (19.2%), a romantic comedy drama currently airing on the TBS network and a live-action adaptation of Umino Tsunami's manga. Coming in second place was the fourth series in the series starring Yonekura Ryoko, "Doctor X: Surgeon Daimon Michiko" (12.1%), which is also currently airing on the TV Asahi network. Coming in third place was "The House Selling Woman" (5.5%), starring Kitagawa Keiko, which aired on the Nippon Television network. Additionally, perhaps influenced by the government's current efforts to promote women's participation in society, second to fifth place were all work-related dramas about hard-working women.

■ Survey Overview
Survey method: Internet (T Survey)
Survey period: November 16th (Wed) to November 22nd (Tue), 2016
Survey area: Nationwide
Survey subjects: Men and women aged 18-69 (T members)
Sample size: 1,500 people

■What is the T Survey?
This is one of the largest online research services in Japan, with 12 million T Card users registered. All members who complete research and surveys will be rewarded with T-POINT. In addition, the responses you provide will be processed as statistical information and used by companies and media outlets for product development and service planning. Each and every opinion we receive from our members will be an important key point in creating a bright future for people, companies, and Japan.
CCC offers marketing solutions to companies, from planning surveys through "T Surveys" to compiling and analyzing them as a research program tailored to their needs.

Materials related to this matter

1,500 T members make their big predictions for this year's awards in the annual end-of-year awards survey! "Kanji of the Year" is "Hen" (Strange), "New Word/Buzzword of the Year" is "PPAP", and "Best Dresser Award: Sports/Entertainment" is "Shohei Otani"

Inquiries regarding this matter
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.
Public Relations Officer: Ando
TEL: 03-6800-4464