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Folks in Japan have chosen the kanji character for “struggle” because the image that sums up 2022 – a 12 months marked by battle in Ukraine and the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe.
The character, chosen in a public vote, mirrored Japanese sentiment concerning the state of the world, in addition to heightened anxiousness over the weak yen and excessive price of dwelling, in line with the annual contest’s organisers, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Basis.
In contrast, final 12 months was dominated by Olympic-themed selections after Tokyo hosted the summer time Video games in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the capturing of former prime minister Abe, and the speedy yen depreciation and inflation confronted in day by day life have brought about anxiousness for many individuals,” the muse stated in a press release.
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was shot dead whereas making an election marketing campaign speech in July, allegedly by a person who resented his connections to the Unification church.
Reside TV broadcasts of this week’s announcement confirmed Seihan Mori, head priest at Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto, write the character on a big piece of washi paper with an ink-soaked calligraphy brush. “I hope the ‘struggle’ ends subsequent 12 months and folks can reside in peace,” Mori stated.
The character, which is pronounced as sen in phrases resembling senso (struggle) and ikusa (battle) when it seems by itself, was the kanji of selection in 10,804 of the 223,768 entries.
Whereas many individuals cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, others stated their selection had been influenced by North Korean missile launches and the day by day battle posed by rising meals costs. Some stated they’d been moved to pick the kanji by sporting drama, together with the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Japanese skilled baseball and the World Cup in Qatar.
“I used to be shocked, annoyed, offended and unhappy by the struggle in Ukraine. I’m additionally offended at myself for not having the ability to do something about it,” stated one voter who picked the character.
This 12 months’s ballot, now in its twenty eighth 12 months, was not solely gloomy, nonetheless. The kanji for contentment got here second, adopted by the character for enjoyment. However the inclusion, in fourth and fifth place, of the ideograms for costly and strife urged that many shall be glad to see the again of 2022.
The kanji for kin, that means gold or cash, received final 12 months’s vote after Japan received a document 27 gold medals on the Tokyo Video games. The 2020 winner was mitsu, that means dense, crowded and shut: three conditions individuals in Japan had been urged to keep away from to stop the unfold of Covid-19.
The sen character final topped the ballot in 2001, the 12 months of the 9/11 assaults.
With Agence France-Presse
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