Japan’s BIGGEST Trends of 2021 | A Year in Review

Key Points

• Last year, LINE, Japan’s equivalent to WhatsApp, conducted a national survey with a huge sample size to find out which topics were most important during 2021.
• National hero and professional baseball player Shohei Ohtani ranked #1 with the men, while many women chose the Italian pastry maritozzo, a soft brioche bun filled with whipped cream.
• Younger respondents tended to favor popular anime and manga or Netflix’s blockbuster hit Squid Game.

2021 LINE Survey of More Than a Half Million People

No matter how you cut the data, that’s a huge sample size.

Results of the 2021 LINE Survey

Ubiquitous SNS platform LINE used its own app to reach out to users during the 3-day period from November 29 to December 1, 2021, to ask which topics were of most interest during 2021. LINE gathered valid responses from 548,460 people, which certainly qualifies as being statistically significant. All respondents were at least 13 years old and included men and women from all parts of Japan. The results were weighted by both gender and age.

The results indicate that the top three topics of greatest interest overall were as follows:

Rank	Most Popular Topics among All Respondents	%
1st	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	34.3%
2nd	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	28.0%
3rd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralymics	26.9%

The results varied, however, by both gender and age.

“It’s ‘Sho(w)-Time!’” for the Guys

27-year-old Shohei Ohtani topped the list for men in all age groups.

In terms of gender and age, Ohtani ranked first in all age groups for men, from their teens to over 60s. The percentage increased as the age group increased, with more than 50% of men in their 60s.

Ohtani personifies the ideal sports figure in Japan due to his unrivaled skill as both a pitcher and home run king, reserved demeanor, popularity overseas, and willingness to put in hour after hour of practice. He has a lot of female fans, too, but it seems even baseball legends are no match for Italian pastries and fruit sandwiches.

Italian Sweets Topped the List Among Women

While the guys were focused on baseball, women across the country were caught up in last year’s trend that fueled the popularity of the Italian pastry maritozzo.  It was more popular among women than men, ranking first among women in their teens to 40s.

About 40% of those in their 20s to 50s voted for the traditional Roman confectionary that is, essentially, a sandwich made out of whipped cream.  This trend originated in Yamanashi and has quickly spread throughout the country.

Another long-running favorite, the somewhat less exotic, home-grown fruit sandwich, also ranked in the top five among women in their 50s, 60s, and older.  Overall this fixation on fruit sandwiches—as measured separately from #2 maritozzo—was enough to rank #8 at 9.6% overall.

Other Results from the 2021 LINE Survey

Below the Top Three topics of interest, the results become more fragmented. A few themes stand out, though.

Societal Issues

It was no surprise that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics & Paralympics ranked #3 overall.  After a year’s delay, Japan basked in collective national pride, as so many of its athletes excelled across a wide variety of sports.

The global pandemic continued to affect life around the country.  The need to eat in silence and mask up at the dinner table came in at #4 overall with 15.2% of the vote.

The trending buzzword SDGs, meaning “sustainable development goals,” ranked #6 overall at 12.2%.  It is, essentially, the more up-to-date version of the term eko (エコ), meaning “ecologically friendly.”

Japanese Penchant for Canned Beer

Japan is a nation of beer lovers, and perennial favorite Asahi caught their attention by launching a new version in its Super Dry line of canned beer (アサヒ スーパードライ 生ジョッキ缶) last April.  What made it such a hit was the unique packaging which makes it possible to tear off the entire top of the can.  The concept was to make the beer drinking experience similar to what it is like to drink a regular draft at a bar or restaurant for only 219 yen ($1.91 U.S.) for a 340ml can.

The inside of the lid also features tiny bumps, which are supposed to produce more foam.  Although there was no change to the content of the actual beer, the packaging innovations were enough to cause the brewer to capture the #5 ranking at 12.6%.

Anime and Manga

Coming in at #7 with 9.8% was the hit anime/manga series Jujutsu Kaisen (呪術廻戦).  It was especially popular among female teens and 20-somethings, along with another popular anime/manga series called Tokyo Manji Revengers (東京卍リベンジャーズ).  Although it looks like a counterclockwise swastika, the character manji (卍) in the title of this series is, by the way, actually a symbol from Buddhism and has no connotations to Nazi Germany.

Both anime/manga series were also ranked No. 1 in the survey of trends among the younger generation.

Detailed Listings from the LINE Survey

The overall results were as follows:

Rank	Most Popular Topics among All Respondents	%
1st	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	34.3%
2nd	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	28.0%
3rd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	26.9%
4th	Dining in Silence While Masking Up for the Coronavirus (黙食・マスク会ショック)	15.2%
5th	Asahi Super Dry Canned Beer (アサヒ スーパードライ 生ジョッキ缶)	12.6%
6th	Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)	12.2%
7th	Jujutsu Kaisen (呪術廻戦)	9.8%
8th	Fruit Sandwich (フルーツサンド)	9.6%
9th	Tokyo Manji Revengers (東京卍リベンジャーズ)	9.5%
10th	Boy Band BTS from South Korea	9.0%

The breakdown by both gender and age were as follows:

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Teenage Males	%
1st	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	23.4%
2nd	Uma Musume Pretty Derby anime/manga (see “UMA MUSUME” (YOUNG FILLY) FRANCHISE GROWING BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS!” for more details)	22.0%
3rd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	19.5%
4th	Tokyo Manji Revengers (東京卍リベンジャーズ)	18.1%
5th	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	17.6%

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Teenage Females	%
1st	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	33.5%
2nd	Tokyo Manji Revengers (東京卍リベンジャーズ)	22.0%
3rd	Squid Game	19.9%
4th	Support of a celebrity or oshikatsu in Japanese (推し活)	18.9%
5th	Jujutsu Kaisen (呪術廻戦)	17.5%

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Men in Their 20s	%
1st	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	27.5%
2nd	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	21.4%
3rd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	20.9%
4th	Uma Musume Pretty Derby anime/manga (see “UMA MUSUME” (YOUNG FILLY) FRANCHISE GROWING BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS!” for more details)	19.7%
5th	Jujutsu Kaisen (呪術廻戦)	16.1%

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Women in Their 20s	%
1st	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	39.5%
2nd	Tokyo Manji Revengers (東京卍リベンジャーズ)	18.3%
3rd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	17.7%
4th	Jujutsu Kaisen (呪術廻戦)	16.6%
5th	Squid Game	12.9%

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Men in Their 30s	%
1st	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	33.0%
2nd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	25.0%
3rd	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	22.4%
4th	Asahi Super Dry Canned Beer (アサヒ スーパードライ 生ジョッキ缶)	14.8%
5th	Uma Musume Pretty Derby anime/manga (see “UMA MUSUME” (YOUNG FILLY) FRANCHISE GROWING BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS!” for more details)	12.6%

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Women in Their 30s	%
1st	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	40.1%
2nd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	21.6%
3rd	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	19.1%
4th	Boy Band BTS from South Korea	14.3%
5th	Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)	12.2%

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Men in Their 40s	%
1st	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	39.9%
2nd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	28.5%
3rd	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	21.5%
4th	Asahi Super Dry Canned Beer (アサヒ スーパードライ 生ジョッキ缶)	17.9%
5th	Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)	13.5%

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Women in Their 40s	%
1st	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	38.9%
2nd	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	26.9%
3rd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	24.5%
4th	Dining in Silence While Masking Up for the Coronavirus (黙食・マスク会ショック)	14.6%
5th	Boy Band BTS from South Korea	14.4%

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Men in Their 50s	%
1st	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	47.1%
2nd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	33.6%
3rd	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	19.6%
4th	Asahi Super Dry Canned Beer (アサヒ スーパードライ 生ジョッキ缶)	18.6%
5th	Dining in Silence While Masking Up for the Coronavirus (黙食・マスク会ショック)	15.3%

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Women in Their 50s	%
1st	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	37.8%
2nd	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	37.0%
3rd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	29.3%
4th	Dining in Silence While Masking Up for the Coronavirus (黙食・マスク会ショック)	19.1%
5th	Fruit Sandwich (フルーツサンド)	15.2%

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Men in Their 60s	%
1st	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	56.0%
2nd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	38.5%
3rd	Dining in Silence While Masking Up for the Coronavirus (黙食・マスク会ショック)	21.8%
4th	Asahi Super Dry Canned Beer (アサヒ スーパードライ 生ジョッキ缶)	20.5%
5th	Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)	18.6%

Rank	Most Popular Topics among Women in Their 60s	%
1st	Baseball Player Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平)	52.3%
2nd	Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics	35.5%
3rd	Dining in Silence While Masking Up for the Coronavirus (黙食・マスク会ショック)	28.8%
4th	Maritozzo (マリトッツォ), a traditional dessert from Rome	27.2%
5th	Fruit Sandwich (フルーツサンド)	16.6%

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The LINE survey is certainly a useful tool for recording the historical pulse of the Japanese people during 2021.  The sample size is unprecedented, and the firm is to be commended for publicizing its data.  Check back this time next year to see which topics were trending throughout 2022.

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For more trending topics in Japan from 2021, check out which new words were added to the Japanese dictionary last year!

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Link to Japanese Source: https://markezine.jp/article/detail/38060