A few days ago, the top 10 winners of the buzzwords and new words of the 2011 contest was announced. In the last post, I talked about なでしこジャパン/Nadeshiko-Japan, the word which won first prize. Today, I'll talk about some of the rest.
★3.11/san ten ichi ichi
In Japan, the September 11 attacks are referred to as 9.11 ( kyu ten ichi ichi). Everybody knows what 9.11 indicates. Coincidentally, just nine and half years after the September 11 attacks, terrible events happened in Japan and had a great impact on our nation. Because of this, the 3/11 earthquake, tsunami and the subsequent nuclear disaster are referred to as 3.11. Although I don't remember who first used the word, according to the announcement, the then chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano first used it in his official statement.
★帰宅難民/Kitaku-nanmin
帰宅/Kitaku means to go home. 難民/nanmin means refugees. On the 11th of March, even in the Tokyo area, we felt the massive earthquake too, despite the area being far from the epicenter. I thought that I was going to die in Chiba next to Tokyo. All the train services were suspended immediately after the massive earthquake happened at about quarter to three in the afternoon. Some services were resumed about six hours later, but many of them remained suspended until the next morning.
In the Tokyo area, there are many train and subway services (even Tokyo people often carry a train map with them). People generally commute by train. Over an hour's journey to work by train is very common. The daytime population of the downtown Tokyo is huge. Because of this, a large number of people wandered around the streets due to this long suspension. We refer to these people as 帰宅難民/Kitaku-nanmin. Before the earthquake, it was predicted that Kitaku-nanmin could be a big problem if a massive earthquake hit the Tokyo area. On top of that, the issue of how to deal with Kitaku-nanmin was often discussed and some measures were already taken. However, it was the first time to see how Kitaku nanamin were doing and created problems. We've learned a lot.
http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0311/TKY201103110519.html
http://www.asahi.com/special/10005/kitakunanmin.pdf
★絆/Kizuna
The disaster which happened on the 11th of March has made us realize how many people have supported us and we cannot live without others. We have been very much encouraged by huge support from people worldwide since then. We appreciate for the support very much.
Before the earthquake, there was a tendency that people had been becoming indifferent to others especially in large cities. However, the disaster changed the situation. It's been reported that the 3/11 earthquake made many couples decide to get married. As a matter of fact, wedding businesses have been recently enjoying good sales.
All in all, people have realized how important ties to others are. 絆/Kizuna means ties among human beings.
★風評被害/Huhyo-higai
風評/huhyo means rumors. 被害/Higai means damages. Huhyo higai means damages which rumors without reasonable grounds caused.
Partly because a lot of people didn't know about radiation, partly because the issue of how much radiation exposure will be harmful in the future is always controversial, and partly because the lack of clear information about radioactive contamination, there have been a lot of rumors and information spread since the Fukushima accident. I've found it very difficult that you distinguish reliable information from rumors without reasonable grounds.
Under these circumstances, some people from Fukushima prefecture were or have been mistreated based on the wrong information or just because of the great fear of radiation. Crops from some areas tend to linger on the market. Some insist that this is 風評被害/huhyo-higai because people believe rumors and the wrong information. On the other hand, some insist that this is not 風評被害/huhyo-higai because some specialists question provisional radioactive safety limits on food set by the government, so they want to protect themselves based on their own standards. Some insist that the government and the mass media use the word " 風評被害/huhyo-higai" to blame people who try to buy crops free from as much radioactive substances as possible in order to protect their children. Anyway, the word has become very popular since the Fukushima accident.
