On December 12, 2024, the "Kanji of the Year®" was announced at Kiyomizu-dera Temple (Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture).
Out of 221,971 entries, "gold" received the largest number of votes (12,148) and was selected as No. 1. The reasons cited included the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, where many gold medals were won; the issuance of new banknotes for the first time in 20 years; problems related to politics, money, and slush funds; and a number of robberies by black market workers throughout Japan, all for the sake of money.

Top 10 Kanji® of the Year 2024
No. 1: Gold (12,148 votes)
No. 2: Disaster (9772 votes)
No. 3: Sho (7,487 votes)
No. 4: Tremors (7427 votes)
No. 5: New (6545 votes)
No. 6: Election (6071 votes)
No. 7: Strange (6027 votes)
No. 8: Heat (5674 votes)
No. 9: Raku (4562 votes)
No. 10: Rice (4335 votes)

Just looking at the kanji ranked in the top 10 should remind you of various events. Take this opportunity to look back on this past year and make a wish that 2025 will be a better year.