“New” Kanji of the Year

Every December a kanji character is chosen in Japan that represents the year that coming to an end, and the character is written in traditional 習字 (calligraphy) by the head monk at a temple in Kyoto and presented in a ceremony to the public.

Last year (2008), the character 「変」 (“change“) was chosen. Click here to read my post from last year to see why that character was chosen.

It was decided that since the U.S. elected a historic new President, Japan elected a Prime Minister from a new party, and also because of the global epidemic of “Swine Flu” which is called 「新型インフルエンザ」 (“New Flu”) in Japan…that the kanji character for 2009 is 「新」, which means “new“.

The 2009 Kanji of the year is the character for "New"

Here’s a picture of the head monk writing the character 「新」 (“new”) in traditional Japanese calligraphy:

Japanese Empress is 75

Today is the birthday of the Empress Of Japan.
She’s 75 now.

Last year, I wrote a post about her 74th birthday (and a few other things). Click here to read it.

For her birthday statement this year, she mentioned her sympathy to all who have had hardship due to the poor economy and she also expressed her happiness about U.S. President Obama’s Nobel Prize and his wish for a nuclear-free world.

She always expressed her gratitude to everyone who offered the Royal couple congratulations on their Golden Anniversary (50 years) this year, and the Emperor’s 20th year on the throne.

The Empress Of Japan

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Also, beginning today, doctors, nurses and other hospital staff in Japan were able to receive the 新型インフルエンザ (Swine Flu) inoculation.

Next week, young children and pregnant women will be able to receive theirs.

After that, people with chronic disease (such as asthma) will be in line to get the shot.

And finally other people.

The medicine that people in Japan will be receiving to protect themselves against this new flu is “made in Japan“…so it’s supposed to be safer.

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By the way, speaking of 新型インフルエンザ (Swine Flu), did you know that a company in Japan is selling a business suit that looks just like a normal suit businessmen wear to the office…but it’s being promoted as the first suit that “protects the wearer from the Swine Flu”?

裁判員制度

In the 1930’s, Japan had a 裁判員制度 (jury system) in the courts similar to America has.

But it wasn’t popular and was changed in the early 1940’s to a system where professional judges determine the verdict of defendants in criminal cases, and it stayed that way…until today.

Beginning today (21 May 2009), courts in Japan are using the 裁判員制度 (jury system) again.

It’s surprising that the government decided to adopt this system…since polls conducted since the bill for this was passed into law five years ago consistently have shown that the majority of Japanese are against the idea of having a 裁判員制度 (jury system).

But the law was passed…and went into effect today.

Slightly different from the jury system in America, the Japanese 裁判員制度 (jury system) will consist of a panel of six jurors and three judges who will decided verdicts in court cases and decide what sentences to give those found guilty.
In cases where the jurors rule one way but the judges rule the other…the judges ruling will stand.

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The 新型インフルエンザ (New Type Flu (Swine Flu)) has spread to Tokyo. 😦
Until Wednesday, all of the cases of this flu were in the 関西地方 (Kansai area) of Japan…but two teenage girls from the 関東地方 (Tokyo area) went on a school trip to America and came back with the flu.

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The World Health Organization determined that once again Japanese women have the highest life expectancy rate in the world.

Japanese women live to be an average of 86 years old.

Men from a country near Italy that I’ve never heard of called San Marino have the longest life expectancy rate for men. Their average life span is 81 years.

豚インフルエンザ

The 豚インフルエンザ (Swine ‘Flu) virus seems to be out of control! (Actually, the name of this flu has been changed recently in Japan. It’s now called 「新型インフルエンザ」 (New Type Flu)).

Some people are saying that the media is blowing it out of proportion and the reality isn’t as bad as their making it seem.
But I don’t know about that…it seems pretty bad. And, unlike the conventional インフルエンザ (flu), it seems that a high number of teenagers are catching this disease.

As parents of three teenagers, news like that naturally concerns my wife and I! Even more disturbing for us is the recent news that four Japanese teenagers from 大阪 (Osaka, Japan) returned from a trip to Canada and had the first confirmed cases of 新型インフルエンザ (New Type Flu) in Japan….and then the number of teenagers in 大阪 (Osaka, Japan) with the flu has been rising this past weekend!

Currently, there are about 80 confirmed cases of 新型インフルエンザ (New Type Flu), consisting of high school and college students and some of their family members and teachers in the Osaka area of Japan.
Thankfully, no one has died from this disease in Japan yet.

This is nowhere as high as the over 4000 cases in America (with four deaths) or the nearly 3000 cases in Mexico (with 66 deaths)…but it’s still disturbing, especially since all of the cases in Japan have been reported just this past weekend! Hopefully, it won’t continue to spread!

(update (21 May 2009): There are now two teenage girls in the Tokyo area who went to America recently and now have the 新型インフルエンザ (New Type Flu). So it has spread to Tokyo. 😦 ).