¹ó¨±°ì¾±²ú¾±²Ô°ù²¹²Ô. Now that is a Japanese expression you don¡¯t see around much these days. I bet many young Japanese readers don¡¯t even know how to read the four kanji that make up this word: ïL¼oÎÉÂÒ.

It means something akin to ¡°an affront to public morality,¡± ¡°a breakdown in customary discipline¡± or, perhaps, ¡°compromising love relations.¡± But there are simpler and more direct ways to render this expression in English ¡ª how about ¡°adultery,¡± ¡°cheating¡± or ¡°having multiple partners¡°?

In 1996, actor Junichi Ishida found himself embroiled in a scandal due to his illicit affair with a young model. At one point he tried to fend off the paparazzi pestering him with the following comments: ¡°You don¡¯t hesitate to denigrate adultery, yet the bitter sadness and sweetness of secret love are themes in works of great literature and art. They have long been a source of the highest culture.¡±