“變”當(dāng)選日本2008年度漢字

　　After helping Barack Obama sweep to victory in the US election, the president-elect's motto of "change" was Friday declared character of the year by a monk at one of Japan's most revered temples.

　　Using a calligraphy brush to write the single character on a wooden platform as tourists looked on, Seihan Mori, chief monk at Kiyomizu temple in the ancient capital of Kyoto, declared "change" to be Japan's character of the year.

　　The event was hosted by a Kyoto-based group that promotes the use of "kanji," the Chinese characters used in the Japanese language.

　　The public sent in 111,200 nominations for the kanji of the year.

　　Of those, a majority 5.42 percent endorsed "change," followed by "gold," suggesting the Beijing Olympics, and "fall" to reflect the global market plunge.

　　"I think it is an expression of the Japanese people's wishes to see political, economic and societal changes, as they were impressed by Mr. Obama's message of change," Mori said.

　　He added that the term's significance also came into prominence because of the world's growing attention to the impact of climate change.

　　The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation has been conducting a poll on the year's kanji each year since 1995.

　　Last year’s top choice was 'Nise' (fake).

　　　　幫助奧巴馬贏得總統(tǒng)大選的“變(change)”字于上周五當(dāng)選日本2008年度漢字。這一結(jié)果于當(dāng)天在日本最著名的寺廟之一由一名僧人公布。

　　　　當(dāng)天，位于日本京都的清水寺游客云集，在眾人的圍觀下，住持森清范在一個(gè)木板上揮毫寫下了一個(gè)“變”字，宣布其當(dāng)選日本今年的年度漢字。

　　　　年度漢字評(píng)選活動(dòng)由京都的一個(gè)日語漢字推廣團(tuán)體舉辦，今年共收到了來自公眾的11.12萬份提名。

　　　　其中，“變（change）”的提名居多，占總數(shù)的5.42%，其次是體現(xiàn)日本在北京奧運(yùn)會(huì)上（獲得驕人戰(zhàn)績(jī)）的“金（gold）”以及反映全球經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退的“落（fall）”。

　　　　森清范住持說：“正如為奧巴馬的求變理念所打動(dòng)一樣，這體現(xiàn)了日本人期待看到國內(nèi)的政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)和社會(huì)各方面發(fā)生改變的一種愿望。”

　　　　他說，“變”字的當(dāng)選還反映了全球?qū)�氣候變化影響的關(guān)注。

　　　　日本漢字能力鑒定協(xié)會(huì)從1995年開始，每年都會(huì)評(píng)選日語中的年度漢字。

　　　　去年的年度漢字是“偽（nise）”字。