Apparently the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation decides one of these every year.

This year, 熊 (kuma) was selected, meaning bear. For whatever reason, Japan has had a bunch of bear issues lately.

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[–] 10 points 11 months ago (2 children)

A mixture of urbanization and climate change pushes bears into human habitats. At the same time, it's a nation of retirees with 60-somethings hiking or farming plots in bear habitats, and thus becoming fodder themselves. And at the same time still they cannot come up with good legislation and a ranger service that can regulate the population of bears by shooting them if they have to without falling fowl of the strict gun laws. It's a clusterfuck.

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