Every December a kanji character is chosen in Japan that represents the year that coming to an end, and the character is written in traditional (calligraphy) by the head monk at a temple in Kyoto and presented in a ceremony to the public. Last year (2008), the character (change) was chosen.

Since the U.S. elected a historic new President, Japan elected a Prime Minister from a new party, and because of the global epidemic of Swine Flu which is called (New Flu) in Japan, the kanji character for 2009 is SHIN, which means NEW.