Kanji Day (Kanji no Hi)

What Is Kanji Day?

December 12th is "Kanji Day" (Kanji no Hi) in Japan. The date is wordplay: 1-2-1-2 can be read "ii ji ichi ji," meaning "one good character." The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation established the day in 1995, with the wish that everyone learn at least one good character each year. As a rule, it is also the day the "Kanji of the Year" -- the single character that captures the mood of the year -- is announced.

The Kanji of the Year at Kiyomizu-dera

The Kanji of the Year also began in 1995. Nominations are collected from across Japan, and the most-nominated character is announced on December 12 at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto, where the chief abbot, Seihan Mori, brushes it in bold strokes onto a large sheet of washi paper -- a familiar sight on year-end television. In 2025, out of 189,122 votes, the character chosen was 熊 (kuma, "bear"), after bears repeatedly appeared in towns across Japan and disrupted daily life and local economies. In 2024 the winner was 金 (gold/money), with 12,148 of 221,971 votes.

• 1995: 震 (shin, "quake") -- the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake
• 2011: 絆 (kizuna, "bonds") -- the ties between people after the Great East Japan Earthquake
• 2020: 密 (mitsu, "close, crowded") -- the "Three Cs" of the COVID-19 pandemic
• 2023: 税 (zei, "tax") -- the new invoice system and debate over taxation
• 2025: 熊 (kuma, "bear") -- bear sightings in towns across the country

The Record Holder: 金, Five Times

The most frequently chosen character is 金, selected five times -- in 2000, 2012, 2016, 2021 and 2024, each an Olympic year. In 2024, though, many voters cited not gold medals but money: a political slush-fund scandal and stubborn inflation. The same character, read differently. Trying to sum up a year in one character puts the multiple meanings of a word on full display.

How Many Kanji Are We Actually Using?

The joyo kanji list -- the set of characters designated for everyday use -- was revised in 2010 to 2,136 characters. Of those, the 1,026 kyoiku kanji are taught across the six years of elementary school; the current count dates from 2020, when characters used in prefecture names were folded in. The Kanji Aptitude Test follows the same divisions: Level 2 covers all 2,136 joyo kanji, Pre-Level 2 covers 1,951, and Level 3 covers the 1,623 expected by the end of junior high. Set against those totals, the day's modest premise -- learn one good character a year -- starts to look rather sensible.

Tips for Marking This Day

• Pick one character for your own year and write it down -- it makes an easy conversation starter at work
• Have each person on your team offer a character and explain the reason behind it
• Write out by hand a few kanji you normally only ever select from an input menu
• Look up the levels and test dates for the Kanji Aptitude Test and set yourself a target for next year

A Year in a Single Character

Condensing a year into one character is harder than it looks, which is exactly why the reasons people give are revealing. December 12 is a day to work out what your own character would be.