Japanese public chooses 'kizuna' as kanji of 2011

24 December 2011 Last updated at 02:04


The chief priest of Kyoto's Kiyomizu temple displays his calligraphy of "kizuna", meaning "bond"


The Japanese word "kizuna", meaning bonds or connections between people, has been chosen as Japan's kanji of 2011.

The kanji, or Chinese pictorial script, for "kizuna" emerged top of a public poll for the character that best summed up the year.

For Japan, 2011 was dominated by the earthquake and tsunami in March.

The disasters led to unprecedented numbers of Japanese helping one another.

After the tsunami smashed into Japan's north-east coast on 11 March, killing thousands and engulfing entire communities, people's stoicism and their determination to pull together won international praise.

In April the then prime minister Naoto Kan thanked the world for its help in a letter entitled "Kizuna - the Bonds of Friendship".

And when Japan unexpectedly beat the United States to win the women's football World Cup, "kizuna" forged by the players' teamwork was cited with pride.

Half a million people took part in the annual poll for the kanji character, conducted by Japan's Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation.

About 60,000 people nominated "kizuna", but the runner-up was much less optimistic: "wazawai" means disaster.

For some Japanese, 2011 brought the opposite of "kizuna".

A firm that specialised in divorce ceremonies said in July that they had tripled since the tsunami as people reassessed their lives.

Japanese tsunami fund 'used for whaling programme'

7 December 2011 Last updated at 04:47
Japan cut short its whaling season last year because of harassment by anti-whaling activists

Japan has used funds from its tsunami recovery budget to subsidise its controversial annual whaling programme, animal rights activists say.

Greenpeace says 2.3bn yen ($30m; £19m) is being used to fund extra security measures for the whaling fleet.

Japanese officials argued when they applied for extra funding that whaling helped coastal communities.

The whaling fleet reportedly headed for Antarctic waters this week, though Tokyo has not confirmed the reports.

There has been a ban on commercial whaling for 25 years, but Japan catches about 1,000 whales each year in what it says is a scientific research programme.

Critics say those claims are just a cover for a commercial operation, and accuse the Japanese of hunting the animals to the brink of extinction only for food.

Militant anti-whaling groups attack the fleet every year, and last year forced the Japanese to abandon its programme before it was completed.

Earlier this year, the Japanese Fisheries Agency applied to the government for extra funding for its programme from the emergency budget aimed at helping communities recover from the devastating tsunami and earthquake.

The agency argued that some of the towns and villages affected relied on whaling for their livelihoods.

Activists say the agency's funding request was approved and it has spent the money on extra security and covering its debts.

Junichi Sato, from Greenpeace Japan, told Australia's ABC that there was no link between the whaling programme and the tsunami recovery.

"It is simply used to cover the debts of the whaling programme, because the whaling programme itself has been suffering from big financial problems," he said.

The Australian and New Zealand governments have both criticised Japan's decision to continue whaling.

They are both considering sending vessels to monitor the whaling fleet.

Meanwhile, activists from the militant Sea Shepherd group have promised that they will carry on their campaign against the whaling fleet.

Luxury sports cars in costly Japan pile-up

5 December 2011 Last updated at 08:18


Japanese police said some of the luxury vehicles were beyond repair.

A luxury sports car outing in Japan has ended in what may be one of the most expensive car crashes in history.

Eight Ferraris, three Mercedes-Benzes, a Lamborghini and two other vehicles were involved in the pile-up in the southern prefecture of Yamaguchi.

No-one was seriously hurt, but the road was closed for six hours after the accident.

Media reports estimate the damaged cars are worth at least 300m yen ($3.85m; £2.46m) in total.

Police officers inspect damaged Ferrari cars on the Chugoku Expressway in Shimonoseki, southwestern Japan, 4 Dec 2011 The drivers were on an outing to the city of Hiroshima

The sports cars - driven in convoy by a group of automobile enthusiasts - were on their way to Hiroshima, reports Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun.

Police say they believe the accident, which took place on Sunday, happened when the driver of one of the Ferraris tried to change lanes and hit the crash barrier.

"A group of cars was doing 140-160km/h (85-100mph)," an unidentified eyewitness told Japanese broadcaster TBS.

"One of them spun and they all ended up in this great mess."

Ten people received minor injuries in the crash, police said.

They said some of the vehicles were beyond repair.

"I've never seen such a thing," highway patrol lieutenant Eiichiro Kamitani told AFP news agency. "Ferraris rarely travel in such large numbers."