At 2 PM on 12 December, at Kiyomizu Temple in Tokyo, an association based in Kyoto that promotes the use of Kanji characters announced the “Kanji of the Year," which is the Chinese character that best summarizes the social situation in Japan over the past year. With nearly 6,000 votes over a total of 14,787 entries, the Kanji of the year for 2023 was "Tax" - 税.
“Tax” was chosen due to heated discussions held throughout the years on this topic, such as tax hikes, a reduction of income and other taxes by a fixed amount, and the introduction of a new invoice system.
This is the second time that “Tax” has been chosen as Kanji of the year. Its first time was back in 2014 when the consumption tax was increased to 8%.
Source: NHK
