TOKYO, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Association announced in Kyoto on Monday that the Chinese character or kanji "kin" meaning gold or money was selected as kanji of the year which best summarizes the year's national mood in Japan, local media reported.

According to the Kyoto- based organization, the selection was based on votes cast by the general public. The character "kin" meaning gold or money won 6,655 of the 153,562 votes received in total this year and was chosen as kanji of the year.

It is the third time that "kin" has been selected as kanji of the year following the year 2000 and 2012.

The kanji-of-the-year selection event has been held annually since 1995.

Last year, the character meaning "safety" was chosen due to people's concern about safety issues as the risks of Japan being involved in a war or suffering from terrorist attacks have been significantly increased following the controversial security-related bills forced through the parliament. Enditem