Tsunami and Ganbare

Sometimes an event in one part of the world attracts so much attention that it creates a new global word. This was the case with tsunami after the disaster in the Indian Ocean in 2004. This Japanese word was already in use in English but not so widely known, and few people were clear about the difference between a tsunami and a tidal wave. After 2004 almost everyone in the world knew what to call a sudden rise in the sea level caused by an earthquake or volcanic eruption.

The next time everyone around the world was saying tsunami was March this year, and this time the focus was on Japan itself.

There is almost nothing good about this Asian addition to English and many other languages. Perhaps 20,000 people have already died. Thousands have lost their homes. Entire towns, together with their factories and farms and fisheries, have disappeared and may never be rebuilt. And now people throughout Japan are worried about the possible effects of damage to nuclear reactors.

Yet there is another Japanese word that is also becoming widely known around the world and has a more positive meaning: ganbare. I found nearly half a million hits on Google for Ganbare Nippon! and another 200,000 for Ganbare Japan! All of them led to English-language websites. Many of these concern fundraising activities by Japanese groups overseas, such as the Japanese Red Cross Branch in Hong Kong (see picture above); So Restaurant in London; Leicester University’s Japan Students Association; and an organization for Canadian Nikkei. But many more have no direct connection with Japan.

For example, an interactive media firm in Cambridge is collecting artwork to raise awareness for the tsunami victims:
http://illustrationrally.blogspot.com/2011/03/japan-tsunami-appeal-ganbare-nippon

A university in Florida held a charity concert:
http://www.fullsail.edu/news/minute-2-minute/2011-04-19-ganbare-nippon

An elementary school in New York posted a video on Youtube in which children from almost every background except Japanese shout ‘Ganbare’ to encourage people in Japan:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4JTHnFrka

You can also find Ganbare mugs, Ganbare T-shirts, and even a music complication by UK-based DJ Gilles Petersen called Ganbare Nippon!

Ganbare gets translated into English in various ways, including: 'Don’t give up!', 'Fight!', 'Hang in there!' and 'Stay Strong!' Petersen’s English title for his music mix is ‘Pray for Japan’. But in many cases the word is not translated at all because it is assumed most people will know it.

When people around the world think of Japan I hope they will not think only of tsunami. I hope they will also think of the spirit of ganbare.