'Nise' (Fake) Chosen as Japan's Kanji Character of the Year

"Nise" meaning fake was chosen in a poll for Japan's Kanji (Chinese character) of 2007.

The kanji for "nise," meaning "fake," has been chosen as the character for 2007, reflecting a series of food mislabeling scandals as well as problems over political funds and faulty pension records, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation said Wednesday.

The Kyoto-based foundation said it received a total of 90,816 entries this year, of which 6,550, or 18 percent, selected "nise," followed by "shoku" (eating) and "uso" (lie).

In Japan this year, a slew of scandals involving food makers came to light including one connected to Osaka-based high-class Japanese restaurant chain Senba Kitcho K.K., which was found to have been falsely labeling its beef and other products.

There were also food mislabeling cases involving Hokkaido meat processor Meat Hope Co., Sapporo-based chocolate cookie maker Ishiya Trading Co., time-honored sweets makers Akafuku Co. and Ofuku Mochi Honke Y.K. in Ise, Mie Prefecture, and chicken processor Hinaidori K.K. in Akita Prefecture.

Various political funding scandals involving politicians also drew public attention, with then Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka committing suicide in May.

The foundation has been conducting a poll on the year's kanji -- Chinese characters used in Japanese writing -- each year since 1995.


Source: Breitbart