Thursday, December 13, 2018

Kanji of the Year 2018



This year, the kanji character  (sai), meaning disaster or misfortune, was chosen as the character that best represents the sentiment and events in Japan in 2018. 


Sehihan Mori, the head priest at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, drew the character with a large calligraphy brush on a huge piece of Japanese paper. Every year since 1995, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, a Kyoto-based organization that promotes kanji, has conducted the nationwide survey.  This year 193,214 submissions were received and 10.8% or 20,815 voted for  . The second most popular was   (hei), meaning peace, which received 16,117 votes. Many disasters hit Japan this year including earthquakes, typhoons, and a heatwave, with hundreds of lives lost. 


The Kanji for 2017 was , meaning north. 

The 2016 Kanji of the Year was , meaning gold. 

In 2015, the chosen Kanji was , meaning safety or peace.  

The Kanji for 2014 was , meaning tax. 

The 2013 Kanji of the Year was  , meaning ring or circle. 

I find this very interesting.

9 comments:

Amy said...

That is really interesting! I have been trying to learn Japanese on the Duolingo app, but my vocabulary is still small, and it does not teach a lot of Kanji. However, I did actually recognize the Kanji for north!

kiwikid said...

Sad it has been such a year of disasters.

Queeniepatch said...

The Japanese love selecting 'the word of the year', the 'character of the year', 'the best Mum of the year', the sweetest stuffed/dressed up character of each prefecture/city/organization...' etc
Is it part of the thirst for competition and the 'gambatte' (do your best) spirit?

Pink Rose said...

Hi Pamela so sad with the disasters that have hit all over the world,i find the meanings for the Japanese symbols amazing ,thankyou for sharing .

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

I thought this post was really interesting. Not that a Kanji is selected each year, but that the one for 2018 depicts disasters. I was surprised because I would have expected the Japanese to select a more uplifting word. But then it's really a look BACK at the past year and not a look forward so I guess it makes sense.
xx, Carol

Julie said...

So very interesting

Vireya said...

It is sad that this year needed such a word.

The Australian National Dictionary Centre just chose their word of the year. It is "Canberra bubble", which is a disaster of different kind. (It refers to politicians living in their own little world and not having a clue what is going on in the rest of the country).

Leonore Winterer said...

This does not say good things about 2018...hopefully, 2019 will be better for Japan and the world as a whole!

Jeanie said...

I never heard of Kanji of the year, but I suppose it is like a blogger's word of the year. Only prettier!