Japanese dictionary alters definitions of love and sex to be gay-inclusive
A leading Japanese dictionary has altered two of its entries to make it more gay-inclusive.
The edits were made in the latest edition of the Sanseido Kokugo Jiten, the National Language Dictionary. It revised the way it defines words relating to love and sex, and removed restrictive definitions referring specifically to men and women.
In the 7th edition of the dictionary, words like “love”, “romantic chemistry”, “carnal desire” have been altered to remove those references, reports RocketNews.
The definition of the word “koi”, which is used to describe romantic love, now reads: “To have unquenchable feelings of affection for a person, of wanting to see them, and always wanting to be with them.”
In previous editions, it said: “Unquenchable feelings of affection between a man and woman, of wanting to see them, and always wanting to be with them.”
The definition of “shikijou”, which refers to carnal desire previously read: “Feelings of sexual desire between a man and a woman,” but has been simplified to just: “Feelings of sexual desire”.
