Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

The Kanji sai, meaning "disaster" or "misfortune", was selected as the character that best symbolizes the nation's social mood in 2018.

It's unfortunate what many of us remember most at the end of the year are disasters and misfortunes, such as earthquakes, typhoons, heavy rainfalls and flooding, or record-breaking summer heat.

But let's not be discouraged. Instead, let's wish and strive for something better and brighter in the year to come so that we'll be able to choose a Kanji character having a more positive connotation when the year ends.

In the meantime, Kaori and I would like to thank you all for staying with us and supporting us throughout the year. We wish you a happy, healthy, brand new year!