is a Japanese award for the most searched products, media and people during the year.

Overview

Each year, Yahoo! Japan recognizes celebrities and businesses in various award categories for achieving significant search volumes for related keywords. The successful keywords in each category show the significant social impact of search terms and the reciprocal nature of what people search for online and what they're interested in offline. There are multiple award categories in three major categories (Person, Culture, and Product), and the most searched for item in the Person category is selected for the Grand Prize. In addition to those listed below, a local category was established in the 3rd edition (2016) to select the fastest-rising search terms related to the area by users in each of the 47 prefectures. From the 8th edition (2021), the product and local categories were abolished and reduced to only the person and culture categories.

Award winners

2014 Awards

Announced on December 8, 2014. * Grand Prize :

Yuzuru Hanyu is a Japanese figure skater and ice show producer. Universally regarded as one of the greatest figure skaters in history for his well-rounded skills, achievements, innovations, longevity, popularity, and impact on the sport, he started skat ...

* Person category ** Actor category: Ebizo Ichikawa ** Actress category:

Satomi Ishihara , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress. Early life and career Ishihara was born Kuniko Ishigami, on December 24, 1986 in Tokyo, Japan. The origin of her stage name comes from the reverse of her surname "Ishihara" ("raw ston ...

** Owarai Tarento Division: Nippon Elekitel Rengo ** Athletes Division:

** Special category: HIKAKIN ** Model category:

Miwako Kakei is a Japanese actress, model and variety ''tarento''. Kakei is represented by Platinum Production and is an exclusive model for '' JJ''. Biography Miwako Kakei was born on 6 March 1994 in Tokyo. Her great-grandmother was Russian. Before her chan ...

** Musician Division:

SEKAI NO OWARI Sekai no Owari (literally translated, "End of the World"; stylized in all caps) is a Japanese Pop music, pop band from Tokyo. The band was formed in 2005 and has four members: Nakajin, Fukase, Saori, and DJ Love. Since their debut, they have ...

** Idol category:

Kanna Hashimoto is a Japanese actress and former singer. From 2011 to 2017, she was a member of the Fukuoka-based idol girl group Rev. from DVL. During her time with the group, in 2013, a fan-taken photo of her performing went viral on Twitter and 2channel, b ...

( Rev. from DVL ) * Culture category ** Drama section: Hanako and Anne ** Novel Division: Roosevelt Game ** Game Division:

Monster Strike is a Mobile game, mobile Japanese role-playing game, Japanese role-playing physics game with elements of Puzzle video game, puzzle, strategy game, strategy and Cooperative video game, cooperative multiplayer. It is developed by Mixi for iOS and ...

** Film Division: Frozen ** Anime section:

Yo-Kai Watch is a Japanese role-playing video game series and associated media franchise created and developed by Level-5. The first game in the series was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013. Three main sequels and several spinoffs, on both Nintendo a ...

* Product category ** Cosmetics category: Lunasol Eyeshadow ( Kanebo Cosmetics ) ** Car division: Hustler ( Suzuki ) ** Home Appliances: Raycop (Raycop Japan) ** Back-order department: Mochi Yakumo (Chimoto, a sweets shop) ** Beverage sector: Almond effect ( Glico )

2015 Awards

Announced on December 9, 2015. * Grand Prize :

Sandaime J Soul Brothers , formerly simply J Soul Brothers and also known as Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe, are a J-pop vocal and dance group formed by Exile ex-leader and producer Hiroyuki Igarashi in Japan in 1991. Sandaime J Soul Brothers are managed by H ...

from EXILE TRIBE * Person category ** Actor category:

Masataka Kubota is a Japanese actor. History Kubota was born in Kanagawa Prefecture. He is the youngest of three male brothers. He hoped to become a vehicle mechanic and enrolled in the mechanical department of Kanagawa Technical Senior High School. While Kub ...

** Actress category:

Suzu Hirose is a Japanese actress and model. Biography Hirose debuted as a model for Japanese fashion magazine '' Seventeen'', alongside her sister Alice. She gained fame when she starred with a group of actresses as the eponymous sister in the award-winn ...

** Owarai Tarento Division: 8.6 seconds Bazooka ** Athletes Division: Goromaru Ayumu ** Model Division: Nicole Fujita ** Musician Division:

from EXILE TRIBE ** Idol category:

Hey! Say! JUMP Hey! Say! JUMP (HSJ or JUMP) is an nine-member Japanese boy band under the Japanese talent agency Smile-Up (formerly known as Johnny & Associates). The group is split into two sub-groups: Hey! Say! BEST and Hey! Say! 7. In Japan they sold more ...

** Writer category:

Naoki Matayoshi is a Japanese comedian, screenwriter, and novelist who won the Akutagawa Prize in 2015 for his book ', which was adapted into the Netflix series '' Hibana: Spark''. Matayoshi is the '' boke'' of his comedy duo ''Peace'' alongside his partner Y ...

** Voice actor category:

Tomoko Kaneda is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress and radio personality born in Yokohama, Japan. She had worked at Aoni Production for 11 years and had worked freelance since April 2011 and it was announced that she transferred to Across Ente ...

* Culture category ** Drama category: Rare ** Novel section: Sparks ** Game Division:

** Film Division:

Jurassic World ''Jurassic World'' is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Derek Connolly from a story by Jaffa and Silver. It is the first installment in the ...

** Anime section:

Assassination Classroom is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yusei Matsui. The series follows the daily life of an extremely powerful octopus-like being working as a junior high homeroom teacher, and his students dedicated to the task of ass ...

* Product category ** Cosmetics category: Yves Saint Laurent Lipstick (Yves Saint Laurent) ** Car division: S660 ( Honda ) ** Home Appliances Division: Dyson Vacuum Cleaner (Dyson) ** Back-order department: Freshly made potato chips (Kikusudo) ** Beverage category: Sokenbicha ( Coca-Cola Japan ) ** Sweets category: Seven Cafe Donuts ( Seven-Eleven )

2016 Awards

Announced on December 7, 2016. * Grand Prize :

Dean Fujioka , better known as (also ), is a Japanese actor, singer-songwriter, musician, model and film director / producer. Biography Dean Fujioka was born in Sukagawa, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Moving with his family, he grew up in Kamagaya, Chiba Pr ...

* Person category ** Actor category:

** Actress category:

Mitsuki Takahata is a Japanese actor and singer who is represented by the talent agency Horipro. She attended Hosei University as an undergraduate student. Her song "Hitomi Hiraite" is the Japanese theme song for Meet the Robinsons. Personal life On November ...

** Owarai Tarento Division: Kazureza ( Maple Super Alloy ) ** Athletes Division:

Ai Fukuhara is a retired Japanese table tennis player and Olympic medalist, winning silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics and bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics with the Japanese women's team. She is sponsored by All Nippon Airways. Table tennis career Fuku ...

** Model division:

ryuchell , known professionally as , was a Japanese social media personality, model, singer, and activist. In the mid-2010s, Ryuchell gained a social media following through modeling in Harajuku and later became an influential figure in the Japanese gen ...

** Musician Division:

Sakura Fujiwara in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actress. She is managed by the agency Amuse Inc. Biography Sakura Fujiwara was born on December 30, 1995, and grew up in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan. Sakura's father was a bass ...

** Idol category:

Sakurazaka46 , formerly , is a Japanese idol girl group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The group was created on August 21, 2015, becoming Nogizaka46's first sister group under the Sakamichi Series. The group was rebranded as Sakurazaka46 after their last conce ...

** Writer category:

Sayaka Murata Sayaka Murata (村田沙耶香 ''Murata Sayaka''; born August 14, 1979) is a Japanese writer. She has won the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the Mishima Yukio Prize, the Noma Literary New Face Prize, and the Akutagawa Prize. Biography Murata ...

** Voice actor category: Yuichi Nakamura * Culture category ** Drama section:

Sanada Maru The was a small fortification attached to Osaka castle. It is famous for being impregnable and playing a key role in defending the castle in the winter of 1615. Later, it was forcefully destroyed despite being exempt from the reconciliation con ...

** Novel section:

I want to eat your pancreas , also known as ''Let Me Eat Your Pancreas'', is a novel by the Japanese writer Yoru Sumino. Initially serialized as a web novel in the user-generated site Shōsetsuka ni Narō in 2014, the book was published in print in 2015 by Futabasha ...

** Game Division:

Pokémon GO ''Pokémon Go'' (stylized as ''Pokémon GO'') is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game originally developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android devices. It uses mobile devic ...

** Movie Division: Your name. ** Buzzwords category: PPAP ** Special category:

Table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

* Product category ** Cosmetics category: Marriage Lip ( Estee Lauder ) ** Car division: Estima ( Toyota ) ** Home Appliances Division:

PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. The headset works with the company's PlayStation 4 video game console and is forward compatible with PlaySta ...

( Sony Interactive Entertainment ) ** Back-order department:

Menchi-katsu is a Japanese breaded and deep-fried ground meat patty; a fried meat cake.''Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary'', The meat is usually ground beef, pork, or a mixture of the two. It is often served in inexpensive ''bento'' and '' tei ...

(Kakunoshin) ** Beverages: Mets ( Kirin Beverage ) ** Sweets category: Happy pancakes ** Food Division: Super Barley Granola

2017 Awards

Announced on December 6, 2017. * Grand Prize : Chiemi Blouson * Person category ** Actor category:

Issei Takahashi is a Japanese actor and singer. Early life Takahashi was born in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. At the age of 10, he starred in a ''Dragon Quest IV'' commercial featuring him as a schoolboy. Personal life On May 16, 2024, Takahashi and actor Marie ...

** Actress category:

Riho Yoshioka is a Japanese actress. She first attracted attention after landing a role in a television series, '' Here Comes Asa'' on NHK in 2016. She received the Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year in 2018. She won the Newcomer of the Year Award at ...

** Owarai Tarento Division: Chiemi Blouson ** Athletes Division: Anne Cine ** Model category: Rika Izumi ** Musician Division:

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a Japanese idol, teen idol, and transitioned into a leading Pop music, pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentatio ...

** Idol category:

** Writer category:

Kazuo Ishiguro is a Japanese-born English novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. He is one of the most critically acclaimed contemporary fiction authors writing in English, having been awarded several major literary prizes, including the 2 ...

** Voice actor section:

Junichi Suwabe is a Japanese voice actor from Tokyo. He is affiliated with Haikyō. His popular roles include Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez in ''Bleach'', Omega Zero in '' Megaman Zero 3'', Keigo Atobe in ''The Prince of Tennis'', Victor Nikiforov in '' Yuri!!! o ...

** Special category (male): Souta Fujii ** Special category (female):

Mei Nagano , is a Japanese actress. Amongst her film and television credits are Rinko in the film '' My Love Story!'', Suzume Yosano in the film '' Daytime Shooting Star'', and Suzume Nireno in the 98th NHK asadora ''Hanbun, Aoi''. Early life and career Mei ...

* Culture category ** Anime section:

Kemono Friends is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by manga artist Mine Yoshizaki. The first project was a mobile game developed by Nexon, which ran from March 2015 to December 2016. A manga by Furai was serialized in Kadokawa's '' M ...

** Movie Division:

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

** Game Division:

Dragon Quest XI ''Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age'' is a 2017 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. The eleventh entry in the ''Dragon Quest'' series, it was released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation 4 in July 2 ...

In search of the passing time ** Novel section: My husband's dick does not fit ** Drama Division: Code Blue -Doctor Heli Emergency Lifesaving- ** Buzzword category:

Sontaku is a concept in Japanese that could be translated as "surmising the feelings of others" or "acting upon the implicit desires of another person." This term implies an ability to assess how others are feeling, and to respond accordingly. The charac ...

* Product category ** Beverage category: Sokenbicha ( Coca-Cola Japan ) ** Back- order department: LeTAO 　cheesecake ** Home Appliances Division :

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

** Car Division: Harrier (Toyota) ** Cosmetics category: OPERA Lip Tint ** Food department: Nogami "raw" bread ** Sweets category: Jiichiro's Baumkuchen

2018 Awards

Announced on December 5, 2018 * Grand Prize :

King & Prince King & Prince is a two-member Japanese idol group under Starto Entertainment (formerly of Johnny & Associates) that debuted in 2018. Their debut was announced at a press conference on 17 January 2018 along with the establishment of Johnny & Ass ...

* Person category ** Actor category:

Tomoya Nakamura is a Japanese actor. Career Nakamura made his debut in the film '' The Innocent Seven'' in 2005. Personal life On March 25, 2023, Nakamura married Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese televisio ...

** Actress category: Mio Imada ** Owarai Tarento Division: Hyokkorihan ** Athletes Division:

** Model division:

Kōki The , colloquially known as the or "national calendar year" is a unique calendar system in Japan. It is based on the legendary foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu in 660 BC. emphasizes the long history of Japan and the Imperial dynasty. The ...

, ** Musician Division:

** Idol category:

** Voice actor category:

Yumiko Kobayashi is a freelance Japanese voice actress from Chiba Prefecture. She was formerly affiliated with Arts Vision until August 2007. She made her voice acting debut as Mita in '' Kirara'' while still in college in 1998, and her first lead role was as K ...

** Writer category: Taro Yabe ( Karateka ) ** Special category (male):

** Special category (female):

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 25 weeks, the first Asian player to hold the ...

* Culture category ** Anime Division:

Pop Team Epic is a Japanese four-panel surreal comedy webcomic and digital manga series written and illustrated by Bkub Okawa (alternatively romanized as "Bukubu Okawa"), which started serialization on Takeshobo's ''Manga Life Win'' website in August 201 ...

** Film Division:

The Greatest Showman ''The Greatest Showman'' is a 2017 American musical period drama film directed by Michael Gracey from a screenplay by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon, based on an original story by Bicks. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, ...

** Game Division: Monster Hunter: World ** Novel section: My husband's dick does not fit ** Drama category: Half blue. ** Buzzwords section: Ohsako is odd * Product category ** Beverages: Ayataka (Coca-Cola Japan) ** Back-order department: LeTAO cheesecake ** Home Appliances: iPhone 8 ( Apple ) ** Car Division: Jimny (Suzuki) ** Cosmetics category: Opera Lip Tint ** Food department: Nogami "raw" bread ** Sweets category: Red silo ( Seigetsu )

2019 Awards

Announced on December 4, 2019. Of the originally planned categories, the person category special category award and the product category order category award were not announced due to the request of the winners. * Grand Prize :

Ryusei Yokohama is a Japanese actor, model, and former singer. He is best known for playing the role of the pink-haired Yuri Kyohei in the 2019 romantic comedy drama ''A Story to Read When You First Fall in Love'', as well as List of Ressha Sentai ToQger chara ...

* Person category ** Actor category:

** Actress category: Yu Aoi ** Owarai Tarento Division: Ringo-chan ** Athletes Division:

Hinako Shibuno is a Japanese professional golfer who won the 2019 Women's British Open. Early years Shibuno was born in Okayama, Japan on 15 November 1998. Her father was a discus thrower and her mother was a javelin thrower. She is the middle child of the ...

** Model category: Yuki Poyo ** Musician Division:

Aimyon is a Japanese singer and songwriter. Her agency is ENS Entertainment, and her label is Unborde under Warner Music Japan. Career Aimyon was influenced to become a singer-songwriter, because her grandmother aspired to be a singer or actress, ...

** Idol category:

Hinatazaka46 is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The group was established as a subgroup of Sakurazaka46, Keyakizaka46 named Hiragana Keyakizaka46 on 30 November 2015, and was renamed and spun off into its own group on 11 February 2019. ...

** Voice actor category:

Yuki Kaji is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer affiliated with the agency VIMS. Biography He was part of the four-unit singing group G.Addict, which was part of the ''Goulart Knights'' project, He has hosted the web radio show since April 13 ...

** Writer category:

Eiichiro Oda is a Japanese manga artist and the creator of the series ''One Piece'', the best-selling manga in history and the best-selling comic series printed in volume. With more than 520 million copies of ''One Piece'' in circulation worldwide ...

* Culture category ** Anime Division: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba ** Movie Division:

Weathering with You is a 2019 Japanese animated romantic fantasy film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films and distributed by Toho. It follows a 16-year-old high school boy, Hodaka Morishima, who runs away from his troubled rur ...

** Game Division:

Dragon Quest Walk is a geolocation-based role-playing video game developed by COLOPL and published by Square Enix for Android and iOS. It is a free-to-play entry in the ''Dragon Quest'' series and was released in Japan on 12 September 2019. Gameplay The gameplay ...

** Novel section:

The Twelve Kingdoms is a series of fantasy novels written by Japanese author Fuyumi Ono and illustrated by Akihiro Yamada. The first entry in the series called ''The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow'' was published by Kodansha in Japan in 1992; the last Kodansha ...

** Drama Division: It's your turn ** Buzzwords category: Reiwa * Product category ** Beverages: Gong Cha Tapioca Milk Tea ** Home Appliances Division: IQOS ( Philip Morris Japan ) ** Car division: RAV4 (Toyota) ** Cosmetics category: BOTANIST Botanical cleansing ** Food department: Nogami "raw" bread ** Sweets Division: Lawson Baschi

2020 Awards

Announced on December 9, 2020. * Grand Prize :

Takeru Sato is a Japanese actor. He is best known for his leading role as Ryotaro Nogami in the ''Kamen Rider Den-O'' franchise, and as Himura Kenshin in the live-action ''Rurouni Kenshin'' film and its sequels. Satoh was born on 21 March 1989 in Iwatsuki ...

* Person category ** Actor category:

** Actress category:

Mone Kamishiraishi , is a Japanese actress and singer. She is the older sister of actress Moka Kamishiraishi. Early life and career Born in Kagoshima, Her family lived in Mexico for three years due to her father's work. She can speak English and a little bit of ...

** Owarai Tarento Division:

Fuwa-chan , known mononymously as , is a Japanese comedian and YouTuber. Since August 2020, she has worked as a freelance entertainer. She is known for her unique way of speaking, which is considered frank by most Japanese. She is also known for her h ...

** Athletes Division:

Mikuru Asakura is a Japanese mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the featherweight (MMA), featherweight division of Rizin Fighting Federation. He also competed for Road Fighting Championship, Fighting Network Rings and Deep (mixed martia ...

** Model section: Suzu Yamanouchi ** Musician Division:

Official Hige Dandism , commonly abbreviated , is a pop rock band formed in Shimane, Japan in 2012. After signing a record deal with the major label Pony Canyon in 2018, Official Hige Dandism released the debut single ''No Doubt'', the lead single from the extended p ...

** Idol category:

NiziU NiziU (; ) is a Japanese-Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan through the reality-survival program '' Nizi Project'' (2020). The group is composed of nine members: Mako, Rio, Maya, Riku, Ayaka, Mayuka, ...

** Voice actor category:

Natsuki Hanae is a Japanese voice actor. He is affiliated with Across Entertainment. He voiced Tanjiro Kamado in '' Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba'', Ken Kaneki in ''Tokyo Ghoul'', Inaho Kaizuka in '' Aldnoah.Zero'', Takumi Aldini in '' Food Wars: Shokugek ...

** Writer category:

Hitonari Tsuji Hitonari Tsuji (辻仁成, ''Tsuji Hitonari''; born 1959) is a Japanese writer, composer, musician, painter and film director. In his film and singing work he uses the art name Jinsei Tsuji, an alternative reading his given name. His novels an ...

** Special category: Souta Fujii * Culture category ** Anime Division: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba ** Movie section: '' Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train'' ** Game Division: Animal Crossing: New Horizons ( Nintendo ) ** Novel section: The Plague ( Albert Camus ) ** Drama section: Naoki Hanzawa ** Buzzwords category:

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Zoom'' (2006 film), starring Tim Allen * ''Zoom'' (2015 film), a Canada-Brazil film by Pedro Morelli * ''Zoom'' (2016 Kannada film), a Kannada film * ''Zoom'' (2016 Sinhala film), a Sr ...

* Product category ** Beverages: Discerning Lemon Sour Lemon Hall ( Coca-Cola Japan ) ** Back- order department: Shiroi Koibito ( Ishiya Co., Ltd. ) ** Home Appliances Division: Nintendo Switch ** Car Division: Yaris Cross ( Toyota ) ** Cosmetics Division: V3 Foundation ** Food sector: Neko Neko bread ** Sweets category: misdo meets PIERRE HERME

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Japanese awards Web awards