Japanese victims of Dhaka siege arrive home

My heart goes out to the family of those who were killed or injured in this awful attack.

What bothers me about the attitude of Japanese Government is that it keeps calling the victims giseisha, rather than higaisha. The difference in meaning is subtle, but the main meaning of a giseisha is a sacrifice, and its secondary meaning is a victim, whereas a higaisha simply means a victim. The victims were JICA employees and therefore were quasi public servants. Maybe, the government wants to say they were sacrificed in building better relationship with Bangladesh. I do not think the Government's choice of word is appropriate.

In domestic news, someone who is killed by a murderer is always called a higaisha (a victim), and someone who is killed by an act of god, such as tsunami, volcanic eruption or flood is called both a giseisha (a sacrifice) and a higaisha (a victim).