2007年 今年の漢字

[watermen]

http://www.kanken.or.jp/kanji/kanji2007/kanji.html

[Psy]

I love these-- a huge amount of culture expressed in a single two-byte letterform. For those who aren't proficient with reading Japanese yet, the link above refers to the "kanji of the year," a single character chosen to represent the major events that took place in the current year. The character chosen for 2007 was "偽," gi, for which you can find the readings on the linked page above. It was chosen (among other reasons) for a scandal involving printing fraudulent expiration dates on (if I recall the brand) 白い恋人 shiroi koibito, a famous confectionery made in the Hokkaido capital, Sapporo.

You can watch the magic happen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-cnUEJFkj4