The kanji of the year for 2022, according to the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation’s annual poll of the Japanese public, is “sen,” meaning war, battle or match.
“The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the rapid yen depreciation and inflation faced in daily life have caused anxiety for many people,” explained the group when it announced the selection in mid-December.
It was a sadly predictable choice. Violence dominated public discourse this year — and with good reason. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has been a bloody, devastating war with hundreds of thousands of casualties, military and civilian, on both sides.