今年の漢字：偽
偽(P); 贋 【にせ(P); ぎ(偽)】 (adj-na,adj-no,n) imitation; lie; falsehood; (logical) false; deception; sham; bogus
Every year, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation parent organisation in Tokyo, in conjunction with Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, chooses a single Chinese character that is supposed to best represent the past year, and 2007’s Kanji would be has announced the results of an open public poll for the one kanji that best represents the year.
90,816 people voted by internet, postcard and by attending the temple in person, and the top kanji chosen by them was 偽, nise, gi, meaning imitation, deception, or bogus. 偽 (nise/gi), is used in words such as 偽製 (fake/imitation) and 偽物 (counterfeit/imitation).
It wasn’t really a shocking choice, given all the news stories this year, starting off with fake health benefits from natto, and continued with one scandal after another, from construction companies faking earthquake resistance to beef-free beef croquettes. Besides Japanese news reports faking reports on the health value of food, there were also various reports on Japanese TV stations faking programs, Japanese companies selling expired food, and foreign countries copying Japanese stuff. This in turn leads us to the number two choice, 食, shoku, food, where in addition to the ironically-named Meat Hope beef mentioned before, trusted souvenir brands Akafuku and Shiroi Koibito amongst others got caught reusing ingredients that had passed their expiry dates. To round out the bad news, third was 嘘, uso, lies, which claimed the life of one politician this year. Tsk tsk.
These pessimistic characters are a marked contrast from the last two years; 2006 was 命, inochi, life, and 2005 was 愛, ai, love. Haiz.
And still on the topic of Kanji, according to a survey by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, more young people are now checking kanji on their mobile phone than by using a dictionary.
In the survey of nearly 2,000 people, 80% of Japanese 20-somethings revealed that a quick check on their mobile’s email function was their preferred method.
For all folks in general though, cell phones are still in second place to print dictionaries, though the gap is closing, and cell phone use (for kanji checking) was way ahead of computers, electronic dictionaries and the internet.
The Asahi article raises an interesting point about the difference between passive and productive understanding of kanji.
The survey found that 78.9 percent of the respondents use hiragana for the word “撃” or “utsu” (depression) when they write it.
But 71.5 percent said they use the 29-stroke kanji character, arguably one of the hardest to write from memory, when they type the word on cellphones or other devices.
Try that one yourself. The report finishes by saying -
“For young people, kanji is something they type (from the cellphone pad or the personal computer keyboard) rather than write with their hands,” said author Tatsuro Dekune. “The ability to write correct kanji may be considered inconsequential someday.”
More pessimistic stuff, Bloomberg reports that Tokyo dropped from the world’s 10 most expensive cities for expatriates in 2007 as a decline in the yen and low inflation reduced the relative cost of living. Ever since my remuneration was first quoted by my manager, the exchange rate has been dropping and dropping.
The 12-month trend of JPY against SGD.
Seoul remains Asia’s most expensive city, moving to 7th from 8th in the global rankings. Taipei fell six places to 94th in the world, or 6th in Asia, the survey said. Hong Kong remained the 5th most expensive city to live in Asia, while Singapore rose 10 places to 122nd globally and ninth in the region, because of a stronger Singapore dollar. Read more here.
