puberty

Japanese: puberty

…It is almost synonymous with adolescence, and refers to the intermediate period between childhood and adulthood. However, when referring to adolescence, the focus is on the sexual maturation of young people. In other words, it is an expression that focuses on the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics (sexual characteristics) that begin around the upper grades of elementary school, and the sexual interest in the opposite sex and romantic feelings for the opposite sex that begin a little later. Of course, this sexual maturation is the most important developmental task for humans at this age, but there are also several other important developmental tasks, such as the development of abstract thinking skills and the search for a way of life that is unique to oneself, and when considering all of these in a comprehensive manner, the broader concept of adolescence tends to be used today. …

From "Springtime"

…The period in an animal's life history when the gonads (sex glands) mature, secondary sexual characteristics begin to appear, and the animal becomes reproductively capable; this is used especially for mammals. In humans, it is also called puberty. For example, in humans, males experience rapid growth, the appearance of pubic hair and facial hair, a deeper and deeper voice, and other mental changes. In females, the chest develops, pubic hair appears, waist circumference increases, and the menstrual cycle begins. Other vertebrates also show various signs related to sex (sexual characteristics). The arrival of this period is due not only to spontaneous maturation of the body, but also to external environmental conditions such as nutrition, temperature, and hours of sunlight, and the sexual center, centered on the hypothalamus, begins to become active as it matures. …

*Some of the terminology that mentions "puberty" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…青年期adolescenceとほぼ同義で，児童期から成人期へと移行する中間の時期をいう。ただし思春期というときは，青年の性的成熟に焦点が合わされる。つまり，小学校高学年ころから始まる二次性徴の出現(性徴)，それに少しおくれて始まる異性への性欲的関心，異性への恋愛感情などに注目しての表現である。もちろんこの性的成熟は，この時期の人間にとってもっとも重要な発達課題developmental taskであるが，しかしそのほかにも抽象的思考力の発達，自分らしい生き方の模索など重要な発達課題がいくつかあり，それらを総合的に考えるとき，今日では青年期という，より広い概念が使われる傾向にある。…

【春機発動期】より

…動物の生殖腺(性腺)が成熟し，二次性徴が発現しはじめ，生殖可能になる生活史上の時期をさし，哺乳類に対してとくに用いる。ヒトでは思春期ともいう。たとえば，ヒトの場合，男性では急速な成長，恥毛や顔にひげの出現，声が低く太くなり，精神面での変化がともなう。女性では胸部が発達，恥毛の出現，腰まわりの増加，月経周期の開始などがみられる。他の脊椎動物でも性に関連した種々の徴候(性徴)が現れる。この時期の到来は，体の自発的な成熟だけでなく，栄養や温度や日照時間などの外的環境条件の影響も受け，視床下部を中心とした，性中枢が成熟にともなって活動を開始することによる。…

※「puberty」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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