2023.12.12

It was rainy.

Every year one Kanji character is chosen to represent the year.

This year zei (税) is chosen as the Kanji of the year. One of the reasons is the introduction of a new Invoice system since October.

I cooked a new dessert which I saw from the Facebook reel post recently. I am looking forward to tasting tomorrow.

After dinner I had a free zoom session about the Sweet Spot Theory. I was advised to watch the videos first, and I did after that.

Maybe it is not the time now to learn about it.

Yesterday Shohei Otani announced that he would move to the Los Angels Dodgers by the contract of $700,000,000 for 10 years. Wow!

2921.12.14

It was cloudy and rainy, and very cold. The coldest day in this winter. Front shield was frozen this evening for the first time this winter.

There was an announcement of Kanji of the year yesterday.

It is kin (金) which means gold. If you read it as kane, which means money.

There were Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic this summer, and many Japanese got gold medals which is the main reason.

This was the 27th event.

There were 223,773 applications and 10,422 (4.66%) voted for gold.

This is the 4th time when gold was chosen.

There was a zoom study meeting at night.

2020.12 15

It was fine but very cold.

Mt. Fuji looked so beautiful.

I received the result of health check which I took on October 26.  There were some good and bad changes from last year.

There was an anmouncement of The Kanji of the Year yesterday. This year's kanji is mitsu (密) which means "closed." Because of COVID-19, we are asked to avoid sanmutsu (三密) which means Three Cs in English: 1 Closed spaces 2 Crowded places 3 Close-contact settings.

They ssy there were 208,025 entries, and mitsu got 28,401 votes.

Today is the new moon. Let's write the wishes!

From today the new year's cards to be delivered on January 1 are accepted to to post. I have not bought them yet. If we post by Christmas, they will be delivered on January 1st.

2019 12 13

It was cloudy.

There was a visitor to our office. Almost every day we communicate by emails but this was the very first time to see each other. Face-to-face communication is very important.

On my way back I dropped at Yokosukachuo to go to banks. At the supermarket I found special offerings.

They say today is the starting day to prepare the New Years. 

Yesterday there was an announcenent of 25th Kanji of the year. It is 令(rei) of 令和 (reiwa). There were 216,325 entries and there were 30,427 votes for 令 because of the new era 令和 and the new law 法令 for consumer tax and official announcement 発令 of evacuation at the time of natural disaster.

No. 2 was 新 which means new and got 14,850 votes. No.3 was 和 which means harmony and got 10,281 votes. No.4 was 変 which means change and  No.5 was 災 which means disaster.

Last year's Kanji of the year was 災.

2015.12.16

It was fine.

Yesterday the kanji of the year was announced. The kanji of 2015 is an (安). It came from security (安全:anzen) related law issue and anxiety (不安:fuan) by terrorism. 
There were 129647 votes and an (安) got 5632 votes. The second was baku (爆), 4929 votes which was used for bakugai (爆買い), heavy shopping. The third was sen (戦) battle, 4556 votes, which means 70 years after World War II.

An (安) is used not only for anzen (安全), safety and anshin (安心) security but also yasui (安い) cheap.

2013.12.12

It was fine but very cold today.

New lesson with a new instructor began.  We learn BATIC (Bookkeeping and Accounting Test for International Communication) for a while.

Every year on December 12 which is a day of Kanji (漢字), the Kanji of the year is selected and written with a big brush by a priest of Kiyomizudera (清水寺) Temple in Kyoto.  This event started in 1995.  This year 170,290 people applied and "wa  or rin (輪)" was selected as the Kanji of the year.  Wa or rin means circle.  9,518 people voted which occupied 5.59%.  The reasons of the selection were the happy circles of the news of selected Tokyo as the  host city of the Olympic 2020, Mt. Fuji (富士山) for UNESCO'S World Heritage, and Samurai Japan for Soccer World Cup,  Rakuten Eagles for Japanese No.1 Baseball team, and circles of friendship for supporting devastated areas by natural disasters such as the Typhoon No. 26 hit on Oshima Island or No. 30 on the Philippines.

2012.12.12

It was very fine today.  Not only Mt. Fuji but also everything looked beautiful in the clear cold air in the morning.
Today is 12.12.12.  Special number day which happens once in 1000 years.
Every year we choose the kanji (漢字) of the year.  Kanji is Chinese character which has meaning.  This year's kanji is 金 (kin) which means gold.  The reasons are medals of London Olympic Games and the  accomplishment of a monumental achievement such as Dr. Shinya Nakayama's (山仲伸弥) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
金 is also read as kane (かね) which means money.　Kin also means Friday.

１２月１２日（jyuni gatsu jyuni nichi）： December 12

It was a beautiful day.

Today the kanji of the year was announced. They say there were 496,997 people voted. And the No. 1 is kizuna （絆）, tie or bond or knot. 61,453 people voted which occupies 12.4% of all. No. 2 is wazawai (災), misfortune or mishap. No. 3 is shin or furueru (震), shake or shudder.

Kanji of the year started 17 years ago when there happened the Hanshin Great Earthquake. In that time it was shin or furueru (震).

This year through the East Great Earthquake and big typhoons, many people lost their beloved family or friends and felt the strong tie with them. And Nadeshiko Japan, Japanese women's soccer team became the world champion, and people felt their strong tie with teammates.

What kind of things do you think represents this year?