A.R.E: Hanshin Tigers’ Slogan Named This Year’s Buzzword

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:01 JST, December 1, 2023

“Are,” a word used by Akinobu Okada of the Japan Series winning Hanshin Tigers pro baseball team to refer to the championship, was named the 2023 top buzzword in Japan on Friday.

The word is pronounced ah-ray and is used to refer to something in Japanese without naming it.

During the season, Hanshin manager Okada refused to utter the word “yusho” (championship) and instead has referred to it as “are,” which was employed by the Tigers for its 2023 team slogan for “Aim! Respect! Empower!”