明けましておめでとうございます！ (Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu!, Happy New Year!) It’s 2024, the year of the 辰 (tatsu, dragon) — the lone mythical creature among the 十二支 (箩ū苍颈蝉丑颈, 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac).
The reason why the fictional dragon made the cut into the 十二支 is a mystery, but the prevailing belief goes that is because it has a profound connection to us.
The variety of the kanji characters representing dragons partly explains their popularity. While the kanji 辰 (shin, tatsu, toki, hi) is generally used for the description of the 十二支, two other characters — 龍 (谤测ū, 谤测ō, tatsu) and 竜 (谤测ū, 谤测ō, tatsu) — also signify dragons. Although the kanji 龍 represents the old form and 竜 is the more broadly employed version today, both are still standard and frequently used for boys’ names (龍平 [搁测ū丑别颈], 竜也 [Tatsuya]) and those of sumo wrestlers (朝青龍 [Asashō谤测ū], 豊昇龍 [Hōshō谤测ū]).
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