Sumitomo Life Insurance conducted an internet survey in June (report in Japanese here) asking which single kanji character communicates the feeling of 'ecology' most strongly. Around 8,000 people responded resulting in, perhaps unsurprisingly, 緑 (green) being selected as the defining character. The reason given was that green is the colour most likely to disappear from our surroundings with the destruction of our environment.
緑 garnered over twice the votes of the second placed 再 (re-). Chosen for its use in such words as 再利用 (reuse), 再生 (regeneration), and 再出発 (restart).
The top 10 breaks down as follows:
- 緑
- 再
- 優
- 環
- 省
- 節
- 清
- 空
- 美
- 水
Go to comments