The　word　“kansei”　originally　means　“sensitivity”　in　Japanese．　A　somewhat　different　andexpanded　meaning　of　this　word　began　to　be　used　in　Japan，　at　first　in　the　area　of　marketing，　in1984．　Gradually　it　had　been　used　in　various　fields，　and　eventually　became　a　buzzword　of　the1980s．　“Kansei”　is　an　intentionally　ambiguous　word，　meaning　some　ambiguous　and　illogicalway　of　accepting　sensible　objects，　something　like　“feeling”，　“sensitivity”，　and　“impression”　inEnglish．　　　In　1990s，　the　concept　of　“kansei”　was　introduced　to　information　retrieval　research．　Experiments　with　“kansei”　keywords　consisting　of　adjectives，　have　been　carried　out　for　the　retrievalof　pictures　and　music．　Normally　steps　of　constructing　and　retrieving　a　“kansei”　database　are　asfollows：　　　（1）　to　assign　“kansei”　keywords　to　images　manually；　（2）　to　relate　the　“kansei”　keywords　thusassigned　with　the　characteristics　（ex．　color）　extracted　from　the　images；　（3）　to　create　a　databaseconsisting　of　images，　their　characteristics　and　“kansei”　keywords；　（4）　to　retrieve　images　with“kansei”　keywords．　　　Many　experiments　have　shown　that　such　a　method　of　creating　databases　achieves　theoptimal　performance　in　small　size　databases．　Thus，　it　will　be　most　probable　that　it　cannot　beapplied　to　operational　databases．

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