Yo, Nick!
Before we begin, Kashew says that John Mayer is going to perform at 武道館 relatively soon. Tickets shouldn't be too expensive. I figure that if tickets to see Fleet Foxes at AgeHa ran ¥$70, slapping down one or two Fukuzawas for a couple of tickets to bask in the radiant countenance of #MayerFace wouldn't be unreasonable.
So, let's do this.
Every year since 1995, the Japanese Kanji Proficiency Society (財団法人日本漢字能力検定協会) hosts a national ballot to select an annually representative Kanji of the Year (今年の漢字). Over the last 18 years, kanji depicting everything from major disasters and war (災 - sai, 2004; 戦 - sen, 2001) to life (命 - inochi, 2006), love (愛 - ai, 2005) and relationships (絆 - kizuna, 2011) have been chosen.
This year, among the nominees were kanji representing the celebration (楽, 喜) of the return (倍) of the strength of the Japanese economy (富) and the Japanese way (東, 風). However, by a narrow 0.56% margin, the committee selected 輪 (rin/wa)1—wheel—to epitomize the spirit of 2013.
Voters noted the cyclical nature of economics and the completion of large-scale building projects and the consolidation of corporate programs as images of oneness and wholeness, as well as the eventual reward for patience and diligence as best typified by a simple wheel.
But overwhelmingly, respondents pointed to the kanji's second reading of ring and Tokyo's successful bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games—a parallel to its symbolic five, interlocking rings—as representative of Japan's return to the international stage.
As a critical, end-of-the-year exercise, I particularly enjoy this one. With all New Year's activities, this activity helps create space in which we can look back on our year and place ourselves, contextually, within a larger understanding of growth and change, personally and socially. But by anchoring the self-assessment to a tangible product, the goal of writing kanji becomes a focal point that gives the exercise direction and creates a touchstone for reflection from which to begin to think about the coming year.
今年の漢字 has become one of my go-to topics for English conversation classes and one reflective exercise that I genuinely enjoy participating in and doing for myself. It is also one that we started making our third-year students do in January, their last month at school before they begin their two-month 'college preparation' period. We require them to brainstorm about the three most important events over the past school year and then pick the kanji that best represents their experience as seniors.
For their 今年(度)の漢字, many students pick 恋 or 愛 to signify newly founded relationships borne out of club retirement. Some go with 全 or 最 as the culmination of their years of work, or 自 or 選 for the hard fought freedoms that come with graduation. And some select 働 or 進 to signify the perpetuity of a body of work not yet finished.
To describe her senior year, Izumi picked 戦, battle, while Kayo went with 頑 because gan represented the firmness and stubbornness required to survive. Similarly, Yuka opted to go with 疲—exhausted, tired or weary—to illustrate the overall stultification of senioritis. "It pains me even to think of it," she writes.
On the other hand, Masahiro chose 初, beginning, because 2013 was the year he caught his first fish and set a new personal record in track-and-field, which allowed him to compete in the Takeyaryou Tournament for the first time. Sho also signified a new beginning for him, as he was able to pass his entrance exam to Dokkyou University.
Yuki selected 大 for all of the big things he did and Shunya picked 成 because of the ways he felt he grew throughout the year.
For me, I would probably choose 挑2, challenge, to summarize the way we approached and accomplished unexpected presentations and speeches at work, the 頑張れ-spirit of new hobbies and extra-curricular activities, and the mindset with which I will approach the last few months of this school year before I start wrapping up my final term here at Ichikashi.
At which point I hope to have a whole different set of kanji to choose from.
