時尚雙語:“變”當選日本年度漢字
'Change' voted Japan's character of the year
After helping Barack Obama sweep to victory in the US election, the president-elect's motto of "change" was Friday declared character of the year by a monk at one of Japan's most revered temples.
Using a calligraphy brush to write the single character on a wooden platform as tourists looked on, Seihan Mori, chief monk at Kiyomizu temple in the ancient capital of Kyoto, declared "change" to be Japan's character of the year.
The event was hosted by a Kyoto-based group that promotes the use of "kanji," the Chinese characters used in the Japanese language.
The public sent in 111,200 nominations for the kanji of the year.
Of those, a majority 5.42 percent endorsed "change," followed by "gold," suggesting the Beijing Olympics, and "fall" to reflect the global market plunge.
"I think it is an expression of the Japanese people's wishes to see political, economic and societal changes, as they were impressed by Mr. Obama's message of change," Mori said.
He added that the term's significance also came into prominence because of the world's growing attention to the impact of climate change.
The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation has been conducting a poll on the year's kanji each year since 1995.
Last year’s top choice was 'Nise' (fake).
幫助奧巴馬贏得總統大選的“變(change)”字於上週五當選日本2008年度漢字。這一結果於當天在日本最著名的寺廟之一由一名僧人公佈。
當天，位於日本京都的清水寺遊客雲集，在衆人的圍觀下，住持森清範在一個木板上揮毫寫下了一個“變”字，宣佈其當選日本今年的年度漢字。
年度漢字評選活動由京都的一個日語漢字推廣團體舉辦，今年共收到了來自公衆的11.12萬份提名。
其中，“變（change）”的提名居多，佔總數的5.42%，其次是體現日本在北京奧運會上（獲得驕人戰績）的“金（gold）”以及反映全球經濟衰退的“落（fall）”。
森清範住持說：“正如爲奧巴馬的求變理念所打動一樣，這體現了日本人期待看到國內的政治、經濟和社會各方面發生改變的一種願望。”
他說，“變”字的當選還反映了全球對氣候變化影響的關注。
日本漢字能力鑑定協會從1995年開始，每年都會評選日語中的年度漢字。
去年的年度漢字是“僞（nise）”字。
Vocabulary:
calligraphy brush:毛筆
