Red-faced typo tyros up for prize over Kanji clangers

Will the winner be the blunder that turned an “easy victory after five seasons” into “cockroach extermination,” or perhaps the gaffe that transformed a “regional athletic gathering” into a “tip-off meeting?”

Thanks to the quirks of the Japanese language, a single misplaced keystroke can totally transform the way a sentence reads depending on the kanji characters the writer selects.

And now, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation is holding a poll where competitors can vote for their favorite mistaken phrase that results from a mistyped sentence, with the winner to take home the Annual Typo Award.

Typing Japanese involves inputting simple hiragana characters and converting them into kanji. More people are now using computers to write and, unless watching the conversion closely, there is a possibility of the sentence coming out drastically different from the intended result.

Since July last year, the foundation has been seeking public submissions of wacky sentences created by conversion typos, awarding a monthly prize and a blunder prize from the 5,946 entries received.

The foundation has selected what it considers the best 22 entries — including the one that turned an “easy victory after five seasons” into “cockroach extermination” (both can be read gokiburi kaisho) — and has asked for votes from members of the general public on the entry they like best.

Voting is carried out on the foundation’s contest site until Aug. 31. Winners will be announced on the contest page on Sept. 15.

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年間変漢ミスコン：「チクリ苦情大会？」愉快な変換ミス

　チクリ苦情大会を開き、ゴキブリ解消しました－－？？　実はこれ、「地区陸上大会」と「５季ぶり快勝」の漢字変換ミス。日本漢字能力検定協会は、愉快な変換ミス作品の中から大賞の「年間変漢賞」を選ぶコンテストの投票を受け付けている。あなたも選んでみませんか。

　このコンテストは、パソコンで文章を書く人が増える中、漢字を正しく使うことの大切さを改めて確認するのが狙い。

　昨年７月から公募し、計５９４６作品が集まった。毎月、月間賞と次点を決めてきたが、今回は、その２２作品から最もおもしろいと思うものをオンライン投票で選ぶ。投票は３１日まで。

　投票には登録が必要。９月１５日に大賞が決まり、ホームページで発表される。

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