"in a relationship": akechi's mother and shido
So the phrase Akechi uses to describe his mother's relationship with Shido, 愛人関係 aijin kankei, has been localised as "in a relationship", which makes me want to spit tacks.
What is an aijin?
Jisho tells us it means "lover; mistress", and that aijin kankei means "being lovers". However, Weblio tells us it is "mainly used to mean someone in a sexual relationship, especially an adulterous one with a member of the opposite sex."
Wikipedia tells us:
It was after the war that the meaning of "[aijin]" changed to "adultery partner". [aijin] in Modern Japanese: There is no formal marital relationship;... In some cases, the asymmetry of the relationship is implied, such as exerting some control over the other party or providing a large amount of financial assistance;... From the perspective of a third party, it may have a derogatory connotation.
So aijin used to mean lover, but these days it means something very much more like a mistress. The next line, which has not Google translated well, says: for example, a male student introducing his girlfriend to his parents will say "we are koibito (going out)", but not "we are aijin".
Several articles describe exactly what an aijin is. This one describes it at length. An aijin is not a partner. An aijin is financially compensated. An aijin relationship is not about the other person; it's transactional. An aijin relationship differs from ordinary sex work in that it's a medium- to long-term relationship—but the financial element is the same. Being an aijin is "a socially unacceptable existence".
Now, we could validly get into the politics of sex work here, and the stigma aimed at sex workers, but when it comes to what Akechi is saying about his mother's relationship with Shido? "in a relationship" is a misleading translation.
BTW, the last warning that article gives is that "an [aijin kankei] has the potential to destroy one's life." And, well.
how does p5 otherwise use aijin?
Some students talk about how Shiho will be Kamoshida's next aijin after Ann;
Shadow Okumura tells Cognitive Sugimura that he can take Haru as his aijin "or whatever you like", rather than marry her—to Haru's incredulity;
The trial Sae prosecutes in November is about a politician who "took his aijin to some fancy hot springs";
Some women on Harmony Alley laugh about becoming the aijin of politicians so they can live the high life;
In Akechi's deleted Mementos mission, Morozumi's mistress who commits suicide is his aijin. This is translated as "mistress";
The lawyers in Shinjuku have an exposition sequence here, explaining that the former prime minister's daughter was also Morozumi's aijin—and also committed suicide;
A couple of the Persona descriptions use aijin, sometimes translating it as "mistress", and sometimes as "lover"—but aijin did mean something like "lover" in the past, so that tracks.
So this gives us a pretty clear picture. An aijin is looked down on. They get spoiled, but also tend to come to bad ends. Aijin are disposable.
conclusion??
There's room for speculation here, but it seems pretty clear to me that Akechi's mother is not "in a relationship" with Shido—or at least, not as we'd recognise it. They have a transactional relationship, which resembles sex work more than a love affair before Akechi's even born.
This is very much more in theme, IMO, with the picture we get of how Shido treats women than the idea that they had some kind of dating relationship which only broke down when she got pregnant. aijin relationships will differ based on the people involved, but it seems like there will always be a power asymmetry—and we know Shido.
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Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: House M.D.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gregory House/James Wilson
Characters: Gregory House, James Wilson (House M.D.), Remy "Thirteen" Hadley, Lawrence Kutner, Amber Volakis, Chris Taub, Eric Foreman (House M.D.), Lisa Cuddy, Robert Chase, Allison Cameron
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, secret(ish) marriage, Betting, ill-fated investigations, Fluff, Humor, Hijinks & Shenanigans
Summary:
“The new fellows don’t know we’re married.”
A sequel to PaintedVanilla’s “criteria.”
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Does the reason Yul is so attached to the MC have to do with their amnesia?
a little bit! yul doesn't know how to express themself very well and they have a habit of getting stuck in their mind obsessing over things (or people) they don't understand. their relationship with the mc isn't as simple as it comes across in all the asks i've been answering 😖 the "strong affection" they have for the the mc isn't even scratching the surface.
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