竜
dragon; imperial
Kanji 1899
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Unlike Europeans, who have feared dragons, the Japanese have viewed them as mythical or divine since ancient times. The dragon is even more important in China, where it symbolizes the emperor, is associated with water and weather, and is an imaginary creature in legends. In this essay you'll find out about dragons from every angle, including the following: animals with dragons inside them, tense relations between dragons and tigers, dragons that fly away, and the dragon inside the waterfall kanji. In more practical terms, you'll read about Chinese dragon boats, as well as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, who both had connections to dragons. Finally, you'll discover whatever there is to know about the "dragon" radical—and why one might be tempted to call it the "hidden dragon" radical. Incidentally, 竜 is a Shin-Joyo kanji; it's a 2010 addition to the Joyo set.
http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0405/TKY201104050598.html
The article says that's part of the boat name. They didn't say why someone would name a boat 龍王丸 (りゅうおうまる), but I'm wondering if it's because people associate dragons with the water. It may be that the fishermen (and fisherwomen) are appealing to a dragon god for luck with fishing.
Here's the English version of the article (in which the photos no longer show up, at least not for me right now):
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201104170110.html
"Fukui Prefecture, which has been dubbed a 'dinosaur kingdom' following the discovery of dinosaur fossils there, is also turning to the dragon to boost tourism. As the Japanese word for dinosaur, 'kyoryu,' contains the kanji for dragon, the Fukui prefectural government decided to call 2012 'the year of the dragon'--writing it with the kanji for dinosaur--in the hope of attracting more visitors to the prefecture.... An official of the prefectural government said, "It might be a bit of a stretch to link dinosaurs with dragons, but we'd like to set an energetic mood for the city, like a rising dragon."