The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation has announced that the kanji hen[変], meaning change/strange, has prevailed in its survey on what Chinese character best represents the events and society of 2008:

Of the total, 6,031, or 5.4 percent, picked “hen,” followed by “kin” (gold) and “raku” (fall). “Kin” was apparently chosen because of gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, while “raku” was chosen to reflect falling stock prices.

“Hen” was chosen to symbolize successive changes of power in Japan from 2007 to 2008, the victory of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, who called for change during his presidential campaign, and the deterioration in the global financial and economic landscape, the association said.

A few examples of the many words that use the character are kawaru (変わる – to change), henka (変化　- change)henshin (変身　－ metamorphosis), hentai (変態　- pervert), and hensou (変装　- disguise).

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