"Kin," or Gold, Picked as Kanji of 2021

Kyoto, Dec. 13 (Jiji Press)--"Kin," meaning gold, was selected as the kanji character of the year in Japan on Monday, after the country won dozens of gold medals in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer. Kin received 10,422 of the 223,773 votes cast by people across the country in a poll conducted by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, based in the western city of Kyoto. In announcing the outcomes of the 27th kanji of the year poll, Kiyomizu-dera chief monk Seihan Mori wrote the kanji for kin in traditional Japanese calligraphy in an annual event at the famous Buddhist temple in Kyoto, which is also a major tourist spot. In the Tokyo Games, Japanese athletes earned the gold medals "under extraordinary and difficult circumstances that were different" from those for past Olympics and Paralympics, Mori said, referring to the novel coronavirus pandemic. "I think that the result came as the athletes did their best while most matches in the Games were held without live spectators and interaction between athletes was limited (due to the COVID-19 pandemic)," he said. Japan won 27 gold medals in the Olympics, a record high for the country, and 13 golds in the Paralympics. The selection of the kanji for kin also reflected many "kinjito," or milestones, achieved by Japanese nationals in 2021, including the unanimous winning of the American League MVP award by major league baseball two-way star Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels. The kanji for kin is used for one of the three kanji characters comprising the word kinjito. It is the fourth time for kin to take the top spot and the first since 2016, when the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and Paralympics were held. "Rin," meaning ring and used as part of the kanji characters for "Gorin," or Olympics, came a close second in the 2021 poll, with 10,304 votes, as many people felt that the Tokyo Games brought the world together, according to the kanji federation. The Tokyo Summer Olympics and Paralympics were originally scheduled for 2020 but were postponed by one year in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. "Raku," which means fun or joy, ranked third, with 6,165 votes, apparently because people wish for more fun things next year although the pandemic lingers. The calligraphy of kin written by the Kiyomizu-dera chief monk will be displayed to the public at the temple, located in Higashiyama Ward of Kyoto, until Dec. 22 and then at the Japan Kanji Museum & Library in the same ward from Dec. 23. END