Japan’s Word of the Year Race Is On — and ‘Riku-Ryu’ Is the Name to Beat

Every year in early November, Japan starts arguing about words. Not grammar, not spelling — which single word or phrase best captured the mood of the year. The contest is called the 新語・流行語大賞 (Shingo Ryūkōgo Taishō), usually shortened to “the Ryūkōgo Taishō,” and it’s one of the most talked-about rituals of the Japanese calendar.

Thirty nominees are revealed first. Then, around December 1, a panel picks a top ten and one grand prize winner. Variety shows debate the list for days, and social media fills with people saying they’ve “never heard half of these.” That complaint is a tradition too.

For 2026, the nominees are expected around November 5, when the annual reference book Gendai Yōgo no Kiso Chishiki — the source the nominations are drawn from — goes on sale. Until the list is official, Japan is doing what it does best: making predictions.

The favorite: “Riku-Ryu” (りくりゅう)

If you followed the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in February, you already know this one. りくりゅう (Riku-Ryū) is the nickname of figure skating pair Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara.

Their story had everything a word of the year needs. After a rough short program left them in fifth place, the pair came back in the free skate with a world-record score of 158.13 and won gold on a total of 231.24. Japanese sports media called it a 大逆転 (dai-gyakuten) — a massive comeback. It was Japan’s first-ever Olympic medal in pairs skating.

Then came the human moments that made the nickname explode online. On the podium broadcast, Kihara was in tears while Miura looked almost puzzled before breaking into a smile — and comments like “Which one is the older one, lol” and “That blank look into a smile is too cute” spread across social media. In the spring, the pair announced they would retire at the peak of their careers, citing the physical toll, and later in the year they announced their engagement.

So the word has a full arc: victory, emotion, goodbye, and a happy ending. Prediction blogs almost unanimously have it as the 本命 (honmei) — the favorite.

A good 流行語 isn’t just popular. It has to remind everyone of a specific feeling from that year.

The challengers

Predictions are only predictions, but a few other words keep showing up on lists:

• 〇〇で滅 (~de metsu) — teen slang for “so ___ it destroys me,” as in 好きすぎて滅 (“I love it so much I’m destroyed”). It topped several first-half 2026 rankings of slang used by high school students. We broke it down in our slang explainer.
• Dubai chocolate mochi (ドバイチョコもち) — the global pistachio-chocolate dessert craze got a very Japanese, very chewy remix.
• フレネミー (furenemī, “frenemy”) — an English loanword that suddenly felt very relevant on Japanese social media.

Notice something? Two of these are not “real” Japanese words in the dictionary sense. That’s exactly the point. The Ryūkōgo Taishō is a snapshot of how people actually talk — which is also why it’s a great study list for learners.

How the winner is chosen (and why people argue)

Unlike many internet awards, the winner is not decided by public vote. A selection committee of writers and editors chooses from the nominees. That’s why the results almost always cause debate: sometimes the committee picks a word that online communities feel nobody really used. Expect a few “誰が使ってたの？” (Dare ga tsukatteta no? — “Who was even using this?”) posts in December. It’s part of the fun.

Why learners should care

Here’s the honest truth about learning Japanese from textbooks: they’re great at grammar and terrible at the present. Nobody in your textbook says 滅. Nobody has a nickname like りくりゅう.

But the moment you watch a Japanese variety show, scroll Japanese X, or talk to someone your age in Tokyo, these are the words you’ll hear. Following the word-of-the-year race is like getting a cheat sheet to the conversations Japan had in 2026.

Try this

When the 30 nominees come out, pick three you don’t know. Look up what they mean, then search them on X or Instagram. Reading real posts — even just the first line — will teach you more natural Japanese than any example sentence.

Update: Riku-Ryu made the official list

The 30 nominees were announced on November 5, and りくりゅう is officially one of them — along with M!LK’s 好きすぎて滅！ See the full list of 30 nominees. The top ten and the grand prize will be announced on December 1.

Our prediction? りくりゅう. But Japan has surprised us before.