Ganbaru

'stand firm'), also romanized as gambaru, is a ubiquitous Japanese word which roughly means to slog on tenaciously through tough times.

[6] The New York Times said of Shoichi Yokoi, the Japanese holdout who surrendered in Guam in January 1972, that in Japan "even those embarrassed by his constant references to the Emperor felt a measure of admiration at his determination and ganbaru spirit".

[8] The modern spelling is ateji using the 頑 character to represent an unknown original lexeme.

The modern positive sense of to persist, to endure has arisen since the end of the Edo period in 1868.

There are three theories of the origin: Gambaru focuses on the importance of finishing a task and never stopping until a goal is achieved.