On December 12, two announcements were made that attempted to encapsulate the spirit of the year that is coming to an end. The kanji for ‘kin’ and the abbreviation ‘futehodo’ were selected as the character and word that best captured the zeitgeist of 2024.
At an annual ceremony held at Kiyomizudera temple in Kyoto, the head priest drew the kanji symbol for ‘kin’ which means gold or money. It was selected to represent several major events throughout the year – the medal-winning success of Japanese athletes at the Olympics in Paris; the achievements of baseball superstar Ohtani Shohei, who won the World Series with the LA Dodgers; the introduction of new Yen banknotes for the first time in 20 years; the registration of the Sado Gold Mine as a UNESCO World Heritage site; the ongoing cost of living crisis due to inflation; and the slush-fund scandals plaguing the ruling LDP (Liberal Democratic Party).
Meanwhile, ‘futehodo’, an abbreviation of the popular TBS drama series titled Futekisetsu nimo Hodo ga Aru! (Extremely Inappropriate!) about a time-traveling middle-aged PE teacher, was chosen as the buzzword of the year. The drama, which aired early in the year, features Sadao Abe as the teacher who time travels from 1986 to the present day, and finds himself struggling to deal with modern attitudes to things like gender discrimination.