We crossmatch AKARI all-sky survey with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10 (SDSS DR10) and the Final Data Release of the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) and identify 118 Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) and one Hyperluminous Infrared Galaxy (HLIRG). We find 40 new ULIRGs and one new HLIRG. ULIRGs in our sample are interacting galaxies or ongoing/post mergers. This is consistent with the fact that ULIRGs are major mergers of disk galaxies. We find that compared to local star forming SDSS galaxies of similar mass, local ULIRGs have lower oxygen abundances and this is consistent with the previous studies.

The AKARI Deep Field South (ADF-S) is a large extragalactic survey field that is covered by multiple instruments, from optical to far-IR and radio. I summarise recent results in this and related fields prompted by the release of the Herschel far-IR/submm images, including studies of cold dust in nearby galaxies, the identification of strongly lensed distant galaxies, and the use of colour selection to find candidate very high redshift sources. I conclude that the potential for significant new results from the ADF-S is very great. The addition of new wavelength bands in the future, eg. from Euclid, SKA, ALMA and elsewhere, will boost the importance of this field still further.