Hakai

Hakai is a term with multiple uses in Japanese language and in Western media and institutions. In Japanese, hakai (破壊) literally means destruction or demolition, and it is used in everyday language, legal contexts, and literature to denote the act of breaking apart or erasing something.

Hakai Institute is a private, non-profit coastal research organization based in British Columbia, Canada. It operates field stations along the coast and conducts long-term research on marine and coastal ecosystems, focusing on coastal processes, habitats, and the impacts of climate change. The institute supports interdisciplinary studies and data collection to improve understanding of coastal environments and their resilience.

Hakai Magazine is an online publication produced by Hakai Institute that covers ocean science, coastal ecology, and related topics. It aims to translate scientific research for a broad audience and features articles by scientists and writers on topics such as marine conservation, ecosystem dynamics, and policy implications for coastlines.

In popular culture, hakai appears as the Destruction technique in the Dragon Ball series, used by the gods of destruction to erase targets from existence. The term in this context conveys a fictional, instantaneous act of annihilation, distinct from real-world physical destruction but rooted in the same Japanese word meaning.