Kanji meaning "gold" picked to mark 2024 amid Olympic haul, scandals

    KYOTO, Dec. 12 Kyodo - The kanji for "kin" or "kane," meaning gold or money, was picked as the single most representative Chinese character corresponding to the social mood in Japan this year, a Kyoto-based organization said Thursday.

    The selection embodied the two sides of the coin -- on one side, the "golden" achievements of Japanese athletes at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, and on the other, the "shadow money" associated with political fund scandals and violent robberies motivated by monetary gain.

    The pick of the word for the 30th annual poll run by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation was based on votes cast by the general public.

    In Kyoto, Seihan Mori, the chief priest of Kiyomizu temple and a prominent Buddhist figure, handwrote the character with a giant calligraphy brush on "washi," or Japanese paper, 1.5 meters high and 1.3 meters wide, at the renowned structure where this year's kanji announcement was made.

    With the Noto Peninsula in central Japan hit by a massive earthquake on New Year's Day, "I had expected the kanji for 'wa' (circle) to be chosen to symbolize everyone standing in solidarity," Mori said.

    It marks the fifth time "kin" has been selected, with the previous instance in 2021 after Japan had its best-ever haul of 27 gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics that summer.

    Running in second place was the kanji for "sai," meaning disaster, in light of the earthquake and subsequent record-breaking rainfall in the Noto Peninsula earlier this year, while the character for "sho," meaning soar, was voted in third place in admiration of the sporting achievements of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.

    Last year, the kanji for "zei," meaning tax, was chosen following the introduction of a new invoice system that meant freelancers and the self-employed may have to shoulder higher tax burdens.

==Kyodo