近年

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 近年, read きんねん, refers to the span of recent years rather than to one immediate moment.
• Basic usage: It sets the time frame for a recent trend such as rising vacant-home numbers or an area of increasingly active research.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• The span of recent years
  • It refers to a span of years close to the present, such as trends in vacant-house use or recent research. It should not be reduced to a single day or moment.