Every year, since 1995, "The Kanji of the Year -- Kotoshi no Kanji" has been decided by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation through a national ballot.  The kanji or Chinese characters that are sent in must represent the events of that year. Annually, on Kanji Day (December 12) the most popular kanji is revealed by a priest from Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto as he writes it on a white canvas in elaborate calligraphy during the announcement ceremony. Check out the video here!

The kanji "sho", which means "hot/heat", won the first prize for 2010, with 14,537 votes.  Apparently this year, the total of votes was more than any other year with 28,546 votes!

There are a number of reasons this particular character was chosen by voters:

Reason 1: "HEAT" that influenced health and life

Enduring record high temperatures this summer, numerous people suffered from heatstroke.  The use of air-conditioners and electric fans increased, drinking more water was recommended as an anti-heat measure, and expenditure of expenses for lighting fuel, and drinks increased dramatically. As a result of the tremendous heat, farmers all over experienced bad harvests, leading to the extreme rise in the prices of vegetables.

Reason 2: "HEAT" that affected the environment

Since the intense heat lasted for quite awhile in Japan, the fishing industry was also affected with many fish dying from heatstroke. Because of this shortage of fish and other food, there was a great increase in bear and monkey sightings in residential areas.  Not only Japan, but numerous other countries also coped with extremely hot summers. Even Moscow, which has moderate summers, experienced record high temperatures.  Many said they personally felt the warning signs of global warming.

Reason 3: "HEAT" that gave people courage and hope for the future

The famous rescue of the 33 Chilean miners who had endured intense heat 700 meters underground for 70 days, filled the whole world with courage. In addition, the remarkable accomplishment of the space probe Hayabusa (falcon), which withstood temperatures up to 10,000 °C in its plunge into Earth's atmosphere and brought back fine particles from an asteroid, is said to have given Japanese people hope for the future.


If you're interested, you can check out the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation site to see the top 20 kanji that were voted for. Unfortunately, this site is in Japanese, but it might be interesting to see the various characters.

You can also check out the "Kanji of the Year" from the past in English at Wikipedia.

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Submitted by Hosanna on Tue, 2010-12-14 19:52