To understand what ‘pien’ means, look no further than the world of emojis. See the one with tears in its pleading puppy dog eyes? That’s ‘pien.’ — iStock pic

TOKYO, Dec 16 — Without a doubt, “pien” is (unfortunately) the word that best sums up 2020, a term that’s been crowned “Word of the Year” by Japanese dictionary publishing company Sanseidō.