- Bijin
nihongo|Bijin|美人 is a
Japan ese term literally meaning "beautiful person," but analogous to "beautiful woman" due to the feminine associations of the adjective nihongo|bi|美. It can also be translated as "a beauty," or in modern, informal contexts, as "babe". Bijin are generally symmetrical, adorned, occasionally cute. Up until the early 20th century, decorative portrait pictures of bijin (bijinga ) were popular.The word bijin is also occasionally used by English-speakers and other non-Japanese to refer to both
bishōnen (male) andbishōjo (female).In Chinese, 美人 (Mandarin pinyin: "méirén") also means (a female) "beauty".
Akita in northern Japan is famous for 'Akita Bijin' who are so called because of their pale skin, round faces, and high voicesFact|date=September 2007.
Ono no Komachi was one such historical beauty.Fukuoka, the largest city on the southern island of
Kyūshū , also prides itself on a large "bijin" populationFact|date=September 2007.A play on the romanization of "bijin" is the name of a girlie mag,
Bejean .In some anime and manga communities in English speaking communities, this has been misunderstood to be "bish" (美少) from an incorrect backformation of a root to
bishounen andbishoujo .ee also
*
Bishōnen (美少年)
*Bishōjo (美少女)
*Biyōjo (美幼女)
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