On Dec. 1, publisher Jiyukokumin-sha announced that the winner of its annual 流行語大賞 (ryūkōgo taishō, buzzword grand prix) for 2011 was 撫子ジャパン (Nadeshiko Japan). This of course is the name of the winners of the Women's Soccer World Cup held last June-July, and you can hardly blame the voters for picking a word that relates to one of the happier moments in an otherwise pretty dismal year.

Nadeshiko (撫子, scientific name Dianthus superbus) is a sweetly scented pink flower that, when preceded by 大和 (Yamato, the ancient name for Japan), has been applied poetically to extol Japanese womanhood. However, because the character in nadeshiko is also used for the verb 撫でる (naderu), meaning to fondle or stroke, this has invited bloggers on some websites to pun the word as nadekko (or nadecco), supposedly meaning a girl who is the object of a man's affection (or lust).

Many of the nominees for the year's top buzzwords, and five out of the Top 10 selected, were related in some way to the 東日本大震災 (Higashi Nihon Daishinsai, Great East Japan Earthquake). These included 3.11 (san-ichi-ichi, March 11), and 絆 (kizuna, close personal bonds or solidarity — used to describe the efforts by volunteers to support disaster victims). The chief abbot of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto also designated kizuna as the kanji character that best represented 2011.