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I'm watching an anime ("The Irregular at Magic High School"), and in one scene
(Season 1, Episode 23, 0:45), the kanji 福 ("good fortune":
<https://jisho.org/search/%E7%A6%8F%20%23kanji> Colors are yellow-on-red.)
appears on a wall-hanging in the background, but it's upside-down. Given the
rest of the scene, it seems unlikely this is an accident by either the
animators or the characters. (See the inset in
<https://youtu.be/J-lNJxDs5MQ?t=1138> )

Is there a meaning associated with such a display? Mourning might fit the
other things going on in the series, and might fit the meaning of this
particular kanji (as "inverted good fortune"), but I haven't found references
for such.

Thank you.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-09T18:35:57.797
73818
2020-01-10T08:20:12.517
2020-01-09T19:16:32.880
32404
32404
question
kanji culture
Is there a meaning associated with upside-down kanji?
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jA7er.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jA7er.png)

This is a common Chinese cultural symbol seen in Chinese-related residences.
The Chinese-language expression「福到來」or「到福」means _arrival_ 「到」 _of fortune_
「福」, and when hung in a house, it represents the _arrival of fortune at this
house_.

「到{とう}」is homophonous with「倒{とう}」( _overturn_ , 転倒{てんとう}); the
overturned/upside-down nature of the symbol is a pun on「到」.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-10T05:44:33.240
73825
2020-01-10T08:20:12.517
2020-01-10T08:20:12.517
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73818
answer