News Japanese companies choose kanji for "change" to represent 2023

[thomas]

変


According to a survey of almost 1,000 companies conducted by Teikoku Databank, the kanji character for "change" was the top pick among Japanese firms to characterise 2023, a year many saw as turbulent.

Photo credit: Mainichi/Masaki Matsumoto​

The character, picked by nearly 60 firms, was followed by ones for "patience" and "endurance," according to Teikoku Databank, which conducted an online survey of almost 1,000 companies. "There have been too many abnormalities this year, ranging from extreme weather and surging prices to (the war between) Russia and Ukraine and the Middle East situation. We had to change to cope with them," a wholesaler was quoted by the research firm as saying. [...] The kanji character meaning "high" ranked fourth in the survey, the first of its kind by Teikoku Databank, with rising prices cited as a reason. It was followed by another signifying "turmoil" and "confusion." "Everything went up, from inflation and raw materials prices to fuel and personnel costs," a firm in the food-related industry said. The survey, covering 955 firms, most of which are small and midsize, also underscored the difficulty in passing on increased costs to consumers.

Japan firms pick kanji for 'change' to describe turbulent 2023 - The Mainichi

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The kanji character for

mainichi.jp

PS: This is not the Kanji of the Year nominated annually by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation.

 

[nice gaijin]

weird choice.

 

[mdchachi]

weird choice.

Yes, I was gonna say, it also has a few additional meanings. "change" is not the first thing that comes to my mind.
strange · curious · weird · incident · funny · suspicious · odd · accident · queer · disaster · peculiar · disturbance · fishy · eccentric · flat (music)

 

[thomas]

Apparently, it has already been chosen by the 日本漢字能力検定協会 as Kanji of the Year 2008:

2008年今年の漢字 第1位 変
詳しくは2008年「今年の漢字」ホームページ（（公財）日本漢字能力検定協会）へ。