The Japanese term for physical relationship is “Nikutai Kankei”.
I don’t like this word.
It literally means Meat Body Realtionship. Not only does it sound gross but also I feel like it implies that the physical part of the relationship is separate from the love relationship. Sure, there are many cases where Nikutai Kankei is all there is but there are also many many, hopefully more, cases where physical relationship isn’t just about sharing meat.
One could probably say this is like a scientific term and has no deeper meanings than physical relationships but when I hear Nikutai Kankei, I sense shadow in the word and also in people’s eyes.
-
But is it not aptly describing a ‘physical relationship’? If it were describing marriage, I could understand your dislike for the word.
-
It does describe a physical relationship; however, like every other word, I think this word has more than just a literal meaning. I believe that social, cultural, and political environment always add some more characteristics to otherwise simple words.
-
Granted, nikutai kankei does have that “furin” connection.
3 comments
Comments feed for this article