Skinship
The term "skinship" (スキンシップ, sukinshippu?) originated as a pseudo-English Japanese word (a wasei-eigo), which was coined to describe the intimacy, or closeness, between a mother and a child. Today, the word is generally used for bonding through physical contact, such as holding hands, hugging, or parents washing their child at a bath. The earliest citation of this word appears in Nihon Kokugo Daijiten in 1971.
According to Scott Clark, author of a study of Japanese bathing culture, the word is a portmanteau combining "skin" with the last syllable of "friendship". The similarity with the English word 'kinship' suggests a further explanation.
Use of the word "skinship" in English publications seems to focus on the notion of sharing a bath naked, an idea known in Japanese as "naked association" (裸の付き合い, hadaka no tsukiai?). It is not clear why the meaning shifted to the parent–child relationship when borrowed back into English.
The term has also been adopted in South Korea as 스킨십 (seukinship).
Read more about this topic: Physical Intimacy