Every year Nihon Kanji Noryoku Kentei Kyokai (日本漢字能力検定協会), Japan Kanji Ability Examination Association appeal to the public for the one kanji character which reflects the social condition of the year.
This year 161,365 people voted and the word shin (新) pulled 14,093 votes (8.73%) and was chosen as the kanji of the year 2009. Shin (新) means new.
The new government started in Japan, the new president of the USA was inaugurated, Ichiro made the new records, Usain Bolt made the new record, many swimming new records were made, the epidemic of the new flu, the new judicial system was introduced in Japan, the new system for high way tolls was introduced in Japan, and so on.
For me something new happened this year were the new blog, the new job, the new car, the new PC, and the new business opportunity. How about you?
The kanji of the year 2008 was hen (変), change.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
百円玉の日（hyaku en dama no hi）： Day of yen 100 coin
They say December 11 is day of yen 100 coin. In 1975 the first yen 100 coin appeared in place of yen 100 bill. At that time they were made of silver, but later they became made of the alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel.
There are 6 different coins in Japan. They are yen 1 made of aluminum, yen 5 of brass, yen 10 of bronze, yen 50 of cupronickel, yen 100 of cupronickel, and yen 500 of cupronickel. Yen 5 and yen 50 have a hole in the center. Yen 5 is regarded as a good luck coin, because it is pronounced as go en (五円) which is the same pronunciation of go en (御縁), that means chance or tie or relationship or link or knot.
As a memory of the 20th anniversary of the Emperor's accession, 10,000,000 commemorative coins of yen 500 were issued on November 12, 2009.
While I was in the USA from 2006 to 2008, I tried to collect all the 50 State's quarters, but I have not finished yet. Hope to finish soon.
There are 6 different coins in Japan. They are yen 1 made of aluminum, yen 5 of brass, yen 10 of bronze, yen 50 of cupronickel, yen 100 of cupronickel, and yen 500 of cupronickel. Yen 5 and yen 50 have a hole in the center. Yen 5 is regarded as a good luck coin, because it is pronounced as go en (五円) which is the same pronunciation of go en (御縁), that means chance or tie or relationship or link or knot.
As a memory of the 20th anniversary of the Emperor's accession, 10,000,000 commemorative coins of yen 500 were issued on November 12, 2009.
While I was in the USA from 2006 to 2008, I tried to collect all the 50 State's quarters, but I have not finished yet. Hope to finish soon.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
ノーベル賞授賞式（noberu sho jyusho shiki）：Nobel Awards Ceremony
December 10 is known as the day of award ceremony of the Nobel Prize. There were no Japanese Nobel Prize winners this year. Therefore news were only focused on the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, that is, the US president Mr. Barack Obama. The ceremony was held in Oslo, Norway.
His speech was on air at the news and appeared on the Internet too. As he said in his remarks, compared to some of the giants in the history such as Schweitzer, King, Marshall, and Mandela, his accomplishments seems slight.
Among the Nobel Peace Prize winners, Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai from Kenya in 2004 is the most impressive person for me. She promoted the concept of Japanese word mottainai (もったいない) as a term that is roughly equivalent to the English phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". I have been to her honorable degree award ceremony in the Waseda University in Feb. 2006.
Among all the Nobel Prize winners, Dr. Esaki Leo (江崎玲於奈) is very special for me, because I escorted Mr. and Mrs. Esaki at the Expo '92 in Seville.
His speech was on air at the news and appeared on the Internet too. As he said in his remarks, compared to some of the giants in the history such as Schweitzer, King, Marshall, and Mandela, his accomplishments seems slight.
Among the Nobel Peace Prize winners, Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai from Kenya in 2004 is the most impressive person for me. She promoted the concept of Japanese word mottainai (もったいない) as a term that is roughly equivalent to the English phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". I have been to her honorable degree award ceremony in the Waseda University in Feb. 2006.
Among all the Nobel Prize winners, Dr. Esaki Leo (江崎玲於奈) is very special for me, because I escorted Mr. and Mrs. Esaki at the Expo '92 in Seville.
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