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In Japanese Buddhism, ai is passionate caring love, and a fundamental desire. It can develop towards either selfishness or selflessness and enlightenment.
Amae , a Japanese word meaning "indulgent dependence", is part of the child-rearing culture of Japan. Japanese mothers are expected to hug and indulge their children, and children are expected to reward their mothers by clinging and serving. Some sociologists (most notably, Takeo Doi) have suggested that Japanese social interactions in later life are modeled on the mother-child amae.
Linguistically, the two most common words for love are ai and koi. Generally speaking, most forms of non-romantic love are expressed using the former, while romantic love is expressed using the latter. "Parental love", for example, is oya no ai, while "to be in love with" is koi suru. There are of course exceptions. The word aijin means "lover" and implies an illicit, often extra-marital relationship, where as koibito has the connotation of "boyfriend", "girlfriend", or "partner".
In everyday conversation, however, ai and koi are rarely used. Rather than using ai shiteiru or koi shiteiru to say "I love you", for example, most Japanese would say daisuki desu, which literally means "I really like you" -- suki being the same word used to express preferences for food, music, etc., as in sushi ga suki desu, or "I like sushi." Rather than diluting the sentiment, however, the implied meaning of "love" is understood.
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