The most popular kanji in headlines, blurbs and slogans last year had to do with disasters. Hen (変, to change, or metamorphose) was the most used character, according to the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, beating out close second and third choices kin (金 gold) and raku (落, to drop, or plummet) — indicating, perhaps, a cautious optimism that occasionally surfaces in the Japanese temperament (i.e., wealth plummeted, but we can hope for change).

Hen reflects the popular media slogan of three years ago: kawarankucha (変わらなくちゃ, change is a must), which appeared in everything from politics to design. It expressed the general disdain for familiarity and routine — suggesting that change, any change, could only be for the better; it also meant strange and incomprehensible, or radical and turbulent. In times of peace and prosperity, hen is a kanji to be avoided; in times of extreme stress, it triggers a desire for something wild and different.?

Yet, even as the nation reached for henka (変化, to change, metamorphose), the old adage "the more things change, the more they stay the same" seemed to kick in. This was certainly true for government. "Kubi wa kawaredo jōsei kawarazu (首は変われど情勢変わらず, Heads may change, but the situation remains the same)" was a phrase sighted in the news too often to excite much comment. A fat ray of hope shone from across the Pacific: The presidential election in the United States was proof change was possible, and the jōsei, as it were, still held the power to surprise.