Japan Picks “Disaster” as 2018’s Big‑Vibe Kanji
In a jaw‑dropping ceremony, the Japanese broadcasted a live demo of the year’s defining character. Master calligrapher Seihan Mori, from Kyoto’s historic Kiyomizu temple, scribbled the kanji for “disaster” on a giant white board with an ink‑saturated brush. The whole thing felt like a mix of tradition and a TV drama.
Why “Disaster” Got the Spotlight
Every December Japan asks its citizens to vote on a single Chinese character that best captures the past year’s headlines. Out of 193,214 votes, a whopping 20,858 picked “disaster.” It’s no surprise—2018 was a nightmare of floods, earthquakes, typhoons, and a heatwave that turned up the heat on more than 80,000 hospital beds.
- Floods: Western Japan saw massive rainfall that wiped out villages and claimed over 200 lives.
- Typhoon: One big storm nearly flooded the world’s busiest airport, sending flights scrambling.
- Earthquake: A northern quake triggered landslides and chaos in supply chains.
- Heatwave: Summer blazed with record temperatures, killing 150+ people and stressing the economy.
Real‑Life Stories
One 42‑year‑old woman from Hokkaido, whose region suffered a quake, shared: “I didn’t have electricity for days—everything went dark!” It’s a stark reminder of the nerves we all feel when nature tests our resilience.
What Happened Before?
Last year, “North” was the chosen kanji, echoing a burst of tension with North Korean missile launches. The year before, “gold” celebrated Japan’s Olympic triumphs in Rio.
Kanji: Japan’s Daily Language Swipe
Kanji are a core part of everyday Japanese writing, alongside other alphabets. Choosing a character each year is more than a cultural tradition—it’s a year‑long newspaper headline compressed into one stroke.
