Saturday, December 16, 2023

Kanji of the Year 2023

 



Every year since 1995, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation hasorganized the annual contest to name the Kanji Character of the Year.  This year, the kanji  was chosen, meaning tax. Chief Priest Mori Seihan announced the kanji by writing it on a large sheet of Japanese washi paper at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. 


The character received 5,976 votes, the most among the 147,878 entries. Officials said the character was chosen because of discussion on income tax cuts and the tightening of rules of the "furusato nozei" tax donation system.  This kanji was also chosen in 2014 when the national consumption tax was raised.

2 comments:

Jeanie said...

I don't really understand this -- but I find it interesting!

Leonore Winterer said...

If I understand correctly, last time 'tax' was chosen was basically a complaint, but this time, the reasons sound a little more positive.