What would you say if someone asked you to describe your father in one word? Would you answer with a word like "angry," stubborn," or "strict"? These words might be the traditional image of a Japanese father, but according to a recent survey by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co., that image is changing.

It was surveyed on the Internet a few weeks before Father's Day. They asked people to describe their father using only one kanji (Sino-Japanese character.) With over 2,000 daily-use kanji to choose from, there were naturally many different answers to the question, but some clear favorites emerged. Below is a list of the 10 most popular kanji that people chose to describe their fathers. Follow the links to each kanji to find out more about them.

Overall Results
	1. kind 2. work 3. big 4. alcohol 5. strength 6. respect 7. strong 8. strict 9. smile 10. quiet

The kanji for "kind" was the most common character used to describe fathers, with 5.2%. "Strict" (2%) had a weak showing at number eight, but the big losers were the negative words like "angry" (1.2%) and "stubborn" (1.4%), which didn't even make it into the top ten. This was true not only for the responses from kids, but also for men and women in nearly every age group that was surveyed.

This may reflect a change in Japanese fathers over the past few years, especially in their attitudes toward their daughters. When we break down the results and look only at the answers from daughters, the image of a kind father was the overwhelming favorite at 6%. For sons, though, "kind" (4.3%) lost out to "work" (4.7%) in a close battle for the top position.

Breaking down the results into age categories reveals some interesting differences. One of these differences is in the popularity of "smile." For kids under 10 years old up to adults in their early thirties, "smile" made it into the top ten. From adults in their late thirties to adults past their forties, however, "smile" drops out of the top ten and "patience" suddenly appears in the number four position.

We can see that fathers are changing, and it is time to update the image of fathers in Japan. According to this survey, fathers in Japan have a new, warmer image. What is the popular image of fathers in your country? If you could pick a kanji from the ten above to describe your father, which one would it be?