Learning the Chinese characters called kanji is so much fun for some people that it has become a fad. Interest in kanji can be gauged by the number of people who take kanji aptitude tests. In fiscal 2007, some 2.7 million people, age 3 to 97, took the tests known as kanken (literary kanji certification), offered by the Kyoto-based Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation. This entity also holds the annual "Kanji of the Year" event at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in the ancient capital.
The education ministry targeted the foundation in a raid last month because it was suspected of having accumulated excessive profits. Since the foundation is a public-interest corporation, it is not allowed to generate profits greater than that needed to properly carry out its operations. Its violation of this rule is regrettable.
Mr. Noboru Okubo, formerly an employee of an appliance maker, set up the kanken foundation in 1975, when only 672 people sat for the foundation's first tests. In 1992, the education ministry approved the kanken tests and the foundation gained the status of a public-interest corporation. The number of applicants for the tests topped 1 million in fiscal 1997 and reached 2.7 million in fiscal 2007.