[Katsuo]

From today's Mainichi: A rival to the Kanken is being developed.
日本語 English
I wonder if it will catch on.

Man, the links you posted are broken.

This the link for website of the "New Kanken" - "Shin Kanken":
http://www.shinkanken.com/

The official name is: 日本漢字習熟度検定機構 (something like Organization for Certification on Kanji Proficiency of Japan). The first test was rescheduled to december 5th (previously scheduled to the end of october).

As most of you guys may know, the tradition Kanken has been the center of a big polemic here in Japan, due to the fact that its organization, in spite of been registred as a "non-profit corporation", earns tons and tons of yens every year.

Besides of charging exame fees considered expensive by many, the organization also makes a huge profit with the huge variety of Kanken-related products availabe: books, games, dictonaries, magazines, study guides etc etc etc...


It's still too early to predict if the New-Kaken is gonna be a success... but at least, we can say that the people behind it are more honest and transparent, once they founded a "regular profitable organization" (一般財団法人).


PS: sorry about any possible English mistakes. I'm not a native.