Every year members of the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation (日本漢字能力検定協会), the group that administers both the Kanji Kentei (Kanken) and the Business Japanese Proficiency Test, submit their votes for the Kanji of the Year (今年の漢字). This character, selected to encapsulate the year, is presented at a special ceremony at the Kiyomizu Temple, where a Buddhist priest and master calligrapher draws the winner on a piece of paper nearly 5 ft tall.

This years selection is 密, which typically means "dense" or "crowded." This character was featured in my post on Sanseido's Top 10 New Words of 2020 in the number 3 spot. The pandemic has really defined this year ("pandemic" was, in fact, Merriam-Webster's word of the year), and this holds true with the Kanji of the Year. The Japanese public were told to avoid the 3密, or the 3 C's, that contribute to the spread of the virus: 密閉 (closed spaces), 密集 (crowds), 密接 (close contact).