Home » The Kanji of the Year 2020 – Mitsu

The Kanji of the Year 2020 – Mitsu

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RoYuMi

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December 15, 2020

On December 14 at 2 pm Japan time, the Kanji of the Year for 2020 was announced and this has been 「密」(mitsu) which is closely related to “The Most Popular Word of the Year 2020” which was “三つの密 (San mitsu), the three recommendations that the Japanese government proposed to combat and avoid COVID-19 infections. These are:

Mippei密閉 (avoid confined and enclosed spaces)
Misshū密集 (avoid crowded places)
Missetsu密接 (avoid close contact environments)

Also called “Mittsu no mitsu”, these “three mitsu to avoid” have gained worldwide attention where the World Health Organization adopted these measures as anti-infective guidance.

not	Kanji			Meaning
nineteen ninety five	震	shinシン	furu.eru ふる.える	earthquake	Great Hanshin Earthquake.
nineteen ninety six	食	shoku ショク	ta.beru た.べる	eat food	Numerous cases of food poisoning due to E. coli O157, which affected school menu programs.
1997	倒	tou トウ	tao.reru たお.れる	overthrow	Wave of business and bank bankruptcies. The Japanese soccer team beats the favorite teams in the Asian qualifying tournament and also qualifies for the 1998 Soccer World Cup.
1998	毒	doku ドク		poison	67 people fall ill and four die after ingesting poisoned curry.
1999	末	matsuマツ	sue すえ	final	End of decade, century and millennium. Tokaimura nuclear accident.
2000	金	kinキン	kane かね	gold, money	Several gold medals are achieved at the Sydney Olympics. Kim Dae Jung (金大中) and Kim Jong-il (金正日) hold the first inter-Korean presidential summit.
2001	戦	senセン	tataka.u たたか.う ikusa いくさ	war	The attacks of September 11 take place. The Afghan War and Global Recession begins.
2002	帰	kiキ	kae.ru かえ.る	return	Five Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea return to Japan.
2003	虎	koコ	tora とら	tiger	The Hanshin Tigers win the Central League for the first time in 18 years.
2004	災	sai サイ	wazawa.i わざわ.い	disaster	Earthquakes and typhoons cause great damage. Accident at the Mihama nuclear power plant. Scandal at Mitsubishi Motors about the cover-up of known defects.
2005	愛	aiアイ	ito.shii いと.しい	love	Expo 2005 is held in Aichi (愛知). Princess Nori marries Yoshiki Kuroda. Ping pong (table tennis) player Ai Fukuhara plays in China.
2006	命	mei メイ	inochi いのち	life	Prince Hisahito of Akishino is born. Concern about traffic accidents under the influence of alcohol resulting in being run over and omission of help. Concern about cases of suicide due to mistreatment, the suicide of a member of the Imperial Guard and other causes.
2007	偽	giギ	itsuwa.ru いつわ.る nise にせ	false, hoax	Scandal in the production and labeling of food consisting of the relabeling and reselling of expired products. Problems with the financing of parties and the erroneous registration of pensions. Controversy of the violation of the intellectual property of the Shijingshan Amusement Park in Beijing.
2008	変	hen ヘン	ka.waru か.わる	change	Change of prime minister in Japan. Barack Obama wins the presidential election. Changes in the world economy. ecological changes.
2009	新	shinシン	atara.shii あたら.しい arata あらた	new	The Democratic Party of Japan comes to power and forms a government in a historic election after half a century of rule by the Liberal Party of Japan. Influenza A spreads throughout the world.
2010	暑	shōショ	atsu.i あつ.い	heat (weather)	Japan suffers a heat wave that exceeds records. The miners who were trapped in a hot mine in Copiapó are rescued. The Hayabusa probe endures heat of 10,000 °C during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
2011	絆	ban バン	kizuna きずな	union, tie that unites	2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami. People in Japan discover the importance of being united in the face of devastating situations. The Japan Women’s National Soccer Team “Nadeshiko” wins the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
2012	金	kinキン	kane かね	gold, money	Several medals won at the 2012 London Olympics. A solar eclipse sweeps through Japan. There are concerns about social security and the consumption tax.
2013	輪	rinリン		wheel	Tokyo is chosen to host the Olympic Games in 2020.
2014	税	zeiゼイ		taxes	Concern about rising taxes in Japan.
2015	安	anアン	yasuやす	relaxed, security, still or peaceful	The Japanese Military Security Law is proclaimed, which will allow the Japanese army to act outside its borders.
2016	金	kinキン	kane かね	gold, money	Several gold medals are won at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and for corruption cases in Japanese politics.
2017	北	hoku ホク	kita きた	north	This kanji clearly refers to the nuclear threat and North Korea’s missile tests.
2018	災	sai サイ	wazawa.i わざわ.い	disaster	Osaka earthquake of 2018 and the Japan Floods of 2018.
2019	令	rei レイ	ryou りょう	ok, order	Symbolizes the entry into the new Japanese era Reiwa 令和