''Zei（＝Tax）'' has been selected as the ''kanji of the year'' to represent the year's social conditions. The announcement was made by the Japan Kanji Proficiency Test Association (located in the same ward) on the 12th at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City.
It has been a year in which attention has been focused on trends in tax increases and tax cuts that are directly connected to daily life. The people's expectations and concerns seemed to be mixed, and topics related to the invoice system and hometown tax payments were also discussed. This is the second time since 2014 that "Zei" has been selected.
Kiyomizu-dera's head priest Mori Kiyonori said, ''When I saw this year's kanji for ''tax,'' I felt that the situation in Japan was very severe.I myself have been playing baseball since I was a child, so I chose ''tiger.'' I thought to myself, ''No way,'' but when I opened the lid, I saw the word ''tax''.This shows that the people are watching the fate of their taxes very seriously and have a very strong awareness of taxes. I felt that next year, I would like to see a world where people can write the word ''wa''.
