#230【English】Morning Talk 2020 Kanji

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Good morning everyone,
It's December 21st and it's time for Amber's morning English talk. Last week I had to take a break from morning talk and the evening live show because I somehow managed to get a scratch on my eye due to severe dry eye. I’m glad to say that my eye has mostly recovered, and so I will resume morning talk from today! Wooo!

So to begin, It's currently two degrees Celsius with clear skies in Tokyo today, with a high of 9 degrees.

Last week, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation announced the kanji that best sums up the year of 2020. That Kanji is "Mitsu." In Japan this kanji has been seen, heard, and heeded since spring after the start of the pandemic that has honestly changed how most of us live. In English, the kanji "Mitsu," means "close, dense" according to a Japantimes article about the same subject.

Throughout the country, there have been notices and calls for people to avoid "san-mitsu'' translated as the "three C's." These three C's are known as "Confined or closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings." This guideline is even being used by the WHO in order to reduce the number of cluster outbreaks of Covid-19.

In another article, it was announced that around 90% of Japanese companies would not be hosting year-end parties due to the virus. Needless to say, this year has been heavily impacted by this pandemic, to the point of it influencing this year's Kanji, as well as the 2020 top buzzword.

But I think this year had a lot of positive outcomes as well. I know a lot of people that finally had time to think about what they want out of life, and have had time to sit down and plan it. I know some people that have added cute new members to their families, and people that have found new interests and hobbies and passions. I think I will talk more about this subject once we get to the true end of the year, but this year definitely gave me a lot of time to think about what I want to do and the goals I want to achieve. And I know it's similar for many others around the world. So, for now, let's avoid the 3Cs or San‐mitsu to ensure the health of our friends and loved ones, and hope for a more peaceful new year for 2021.

To end today's morning talk, I'd like to ask a question for those that are listening! They announced this year's kanji as "mitsu" but what about you? If you could choose a kanji to describe your year personally, what would you choose?