Japan's extremely 'hot' year
(From The Japan Times December 29 issue)

「アツい」日本の一年

The kanji sho for "hot" has been chosen by the Japanese people as best representing 2010 in a poll organized by the Kyoto-based Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation. No doubt the memory of last summer's record-breaking heat is still fresh in people's minds, but ironically the summer also brought to light how "cold" human relationships have become in contemporary Japan, as symbolized in the new coinage muen shakai (disconnected society). The social isolation and hidden poverty of many was revealed in people dying alone in their rooms of heat stroke while the missing centenarians and shocking child abuse cases highlighted the weakening of family ties.

Rather than hot, the national mood in 2010 might better be described as lukewarm, as a dispirited younger generation faced an uncertain employment future and citizens were discouraged by the slow pace of political change.

The arts scene has also been suffering the cool winds of an age of austerity, but in a bit of welcome news the Finance Ministry has proposed allocating a new high of ¥203 billion for the promotion of cultural activities in the coming fiscal year's budget, increased from ¥102 billion in fiscal 2010. The Democratic Party of Japan is hoping that its Cool Japan initiative, building on the popularity of Japanese anime, food and fashion abroad, can be one area of growth for the Japanese economy.

Particularly hot in 2010 was speculation over e-publishing and the future of the book after the arrival in Japan of the iPad in May. The e-book market in 2009 was ¥57.4 billion (according to Impress R & D), of which 90 percent was comics for cell phones. On Dec. 20, the Nomura Research Institute estimated that the domestic market for electronic content would grow to ¥240 billion by fiscal 2015. Publishers are groping for appropriate responses, and it remains to be seen what the impact will be on books and reading. What is clear is that there is no turning back from the digital revolution, as seen in Time magazine's selection of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as its Person of the Year for 2010.

In the end, however, it was in science and technology that Japan was hottest in 2010. It was the successful return of the Hayabusa space probe from the asteroid Itokawa in June, the winning of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in October by Eiichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki, and the rapid rising of the Sky Tree tower in Tokyo, which gave hope that Japan's day in the sun is far from over.

日本漢字能力検定協会が公募で選ぶ、2010年の世相を表す漢字に「暑」が選ばれた。記録的猛暑とは裏腹に、「無縁社会」に象徴される人間関係の冷たさが、孤独死や所在不明の高齢者、児童虐待などで浮き彫りになった年だった。

国全体のムードは冷めており、若者たちは就職難、国民は動かぬ政治にうんざりしていた。

芸術分野も緊縮経済のあおりを受けたが、財務省が文化振興費を2010年度の1020億円から来年度2030億円へ増額することを提案したのは吉報だ。民主党はこのクール･ジャパン戦略が日本経済の成長の一分野となることを願っている。

5月に到来したiPadは、今後の書籍のありかたを問う論議に火をつけた。デジタル革命の波に抗うことはもはやできない。

しかし最もホットだったのは、科学技術の分野だ。小惑星探査機「はやぶさ」の帰還、2人の化学者のノーベル賞受賞、東京スカイツリーの建設などは日本に希望をもたらしたといえる。