"Sen," or Battle, Picked as Kanji of 2022

Kyoto, Dec. 12 (Jiji Press)--"Sen," meaning battle, was chosen as the kanji character of the year in Japan on Monday, partly because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The character was written in calligraphy in an event at Kiyomizu-dera, a famous Buddhist temple in the western Japan city of Kyoto, by chief monk Seihan Mori the same day.

"I wrote the character, in hopes that the battles will end as soon as possible," Mori said.

The annual selection of the year's kanji was held for the 28th time by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation.

Sen was picked for the second time, after it was chosen in 2001, when the Sept. 11 terror attacks occurred in the United States.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]