Although I was posting only two entries this year, one in each language, the time seems to have come to look back on 2016. Every year-end, I make it a rule to list the most impressive things and events I experienced or encountered that year in a few keywords. Words of the past years are:
The words of the year for 2001: getting a flat within the Tokyo metropolitan area, a position change at the office, and Soarer.
The words of the year for 2002: America.
The words of the year for 2003: the airplane and the musical.
The words of the year for 2004: the blog, Asian countries (Singapore and Hong Kong), and the GSM mobile phone.
The words of the year for 2005: darts, the GSM and WCDMA mobile phone, and visiting Hong Kong again.
The words of the year for 2006: the US stock and the mutual fund.
The words of the year for 2007: changing my car and visiting Hawaii.
The words of the year for 2008: England and Fukagawa.
The words of the year for 2009: office position change, MacBook Pro and JR Seishun 18 Ticket.
The words of the year for 2010: Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia; iPhone; and the credit card.
The words of the year for 2011: the car, the British culture and China.
The words of the year for 2012: Oji, the mahjong, the flight attendant and Facebook.
The words of the year for 2013: Ayurveda, Korea, high school alumni and Tsuyoshi Takashiro.
The words of the year 2014: England and Android.
The words of the year 2015: Maine, United States; Estonia and transfer of workplace.

Now I think this year’s keywords for me are traveling to places in Japan and Jeep.

Traveling to places in Japan is what I did most this year. I flew to Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Osaka, Okinawa, and more for both business and private. I did visit abroad as well (Taipei and Hong Kong), but this year is the time for me to explore throughout this country.

Changing my car to Jeep also encouraged me to explore this country. I bought a 2013 Jeep Compass this summer instead of letting my VW Polo pass the bi-yearly car inspection for pretty much money. This newer car is very nice, and I’ve driven more than 3,000 miles in five months since I got it.

This year, I experienced many more things than before, other than what I listed here. A number of celebs and famous persons, such as David Bowie, Prince, Charmian Carr, Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, George Michael, Carrie Fisher, and her mother Debbie Reynolds, have died in a single year. Disasters and terrorist attacks hit all over the world. Politicians and people of many countries have been moving from globalization to a nation-centric mindset. Nobody knows what will happen next year. I think the only thing each individual can do to protect themselves is to keep their assets in multiple places around the world and be prepared to move wherever they need to.