SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.

RocketNews24 Japanese

Featured

“Tax” declared the official kanji of 2014

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, but in Japan every year people try to distill an entire year’s worth of words into a single picture…or logograph if you want to get technical about it.

Last year, after tens of thousands of votes were counted, 輪 pronounced rin or wa and meaning “ring” was selected to represent the nations various achievements of 2013 such as winning the bid for the Olympic games and having Mt. Fuji designated as a World Heritage Site.

And today, after the Buddhist monk approached the canvas of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, this kanji above is what he painted under a fittingly gloomy and cloud-filled sky.

The kanji for 2014 is none other than 税 pronounced zei which means “tax” in English. This was clearly a reference to the one event that stood out in Japanese people’s minds in 2014, the sales tax hike back in April along with the threat of further hikes later on.

This symbol received the most votes of any other out of the 167,613 votes cast. The runners up included 熱 (netsu) meaning “heat” or “fever” possibly in reference to the Ebola outbreak, and 嘘 (uso) which means “lie” probably aimed at the disgraced scientists involved in the STAP cell scandal over the first half of the year. Needless to say, it would seem people in Japan didn’t have many fond memories of 2014.

We’ll leave you now with an ancient RocketNews24 tradition spanning back several minutes. I shall write the official kanji of 2014, with my finger on an iPad. Silence please…

Thank you, and try to have a better 2015.

Source: Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Public Interest Foundation, Yahoo! News (Japanese)
Video: YouTube – ANNnewsCH

If you weren’t satisfied with my finger calligraphy and want to watch some amateur priest do it, here’s a video.

Like this:

Like Loading…

Related Stories

Trackbacks

  1. There are no trackbacks yet.
  2. Trackback URL

Trending Today

  1. Starbucks Japan unveils new winter drinkware collection with limited-edition Stanley cups
  2. Pokémon doughnuts pop up at Mister Donut, with a new gathering that’s bigger than ever
  3. Pachinko parlor operator arrested for not obscuring the act of gambling well enough
  4. Japan ends tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, new refund request system now in effect
  5. First-ever cafe on Tokyo Imperial Palace Garden grounds is now open
  6. Japanese government hires leading comedy agency to explain national defense spending
  7. Discount retailers known for massive bargains releases massive Japanese egg sandwich
  8. Liquid croissant coffee is coming to Japanese stores this month
  9. Beautiful Ghibli diorama kits lets you build anime characters’ homes inside yours [Photos]
  10. Starbucks Japan reveals this year’s lucky bag, but you’ll have to act fast to get one

© SoraNews24 —Japan News— / SOCIO CORPORATION

Powered by WordPress VIP

%d