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I am looking for terms in the Japanese language which can describe the act of
flirting in a positive light. This probably requires inventing terms to close
a [lexical gap](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexical_gap), because as far as I
know, all terms that are related to flirting in Japanese carry a negative
connotation.

"Flirting" has a couple of meanings in English. However, here I am speaking
specifically about flirting in the sense of when a person shows their
attraction to another person. It's a deliberate act, and can range from covert
to overt.

The thing is, where I come from, flirting generally is seen as a playful,
positive thing. It is flattering to the recipient. It is also can be
considered harmless, in that it might be that the person doing it does not
necessarily intend to seduce the other, but that they want to test the limits
of their attractiveness by provoking a small response.

The only time flirting is negative in English is when a larger context makes
it so. If a person flirts with a third person while in a committed
relationship, the action of flirting itself is not what defines it as
negative, it's that the committed relationship comes with an implication of
promises that are being broken.

In Japanese, however, all the terms I know of that approximate the act of
flirting tend toward the negative.

`浮気する【うわきする】` is all about cheating, so this is clearly the dark side of
flirting.

`ナンパする` I would translate as "to hit on," and it is clearly much more
aggressive than "flirting". With `ナンパ` one necessarily has the goal of
seducing the other. The feeling of the word to me is of a meat-market night
club, although I know it can be used in much more mild and neutral
circumstances.

`いちゃつく` might be the most mild, and therefor the closest to the English.
However, it does seem a bit cutesy, like a child's view on flirting ("...
sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g..."). Also seems almost entirely on the overt
end of flirting, in that it is more like a public display of affection, like
kissing and holding, than it would imply any clever or subtle behaviour or
words.

In essence, I want to convey the idea of being at play with showing and
getting signals of attraction without it necessarily taking on an aggressive
sexuality. Flirting can be a sophisticated interaction between adults.

Is there a way to convey flirting in the positive light I am describing?

Is there a way to say "I'm not really hitting on you, I'm just flirting."
Something like:

> 実際はナンパじゃなくって、ただ_ **_** _しているだけだ。
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word-choice translation culture
Does the Japanese language only have negative terms for flirting?
Since no-one else has answered, let me try to chip away at the edges a bit.
Disclaimer: I am not a native speaker, not young, not single, and not even an
ex-player, so my intuitions might be quite far from those of hip young
Tokyoites.

There is the phrase 良い雰囲気になる. It literally translates to something like
"arrive at/be in a state such that there is a good feeling in the air", but
there is usually an implied romantic nuance. It doesn't correspond exactly to
"flirt", but there is overlap. Two people successfully flirting will usually
良い雰囲気になる as a result. If you saw your friend getting along very well with a
new acquaintance you might comment later on how 良い the 雰囲気 they なった was. If
you saw your husband flirting (again, successfully) with another woman, you
might angrily whisper 何いい雰囲気になってんのよ when she goes to get another drink.
_[Edit: Seems that last part isn't true; see comments.]_

However, my non-native intuition is that it would be weird to say "No, baby,
this isn't nanpa, いい雰囲気になろうとしてるだけだよ". It would sound creepy and conceited,
like you were trying to manipulate something that should arise naturally, and
totally confident that you could do it.

I don't know any words that could fill in that gap. My sense is that a more
general word would be used like (楽しく)お話する, 遊ぶ, ふざける, depending on how you
wanted to frame things. (Afterthought edit:) But, as sawa suggests, I think
that at the point you are putting it into words, for cultural reasons it would
be difficult to frame things positively.
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I know another expression which comes close to flirting:

目が合った。

Which pretty much means what it says: "Our eyes met", and is also used as "we
have been flirting", or more broadly "I have met a dark handsome stranger." ;)
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Like all the responses so far, I don't have a good concise answer - like you
said, such friendly flirting is accepted, but maybe it's just not culturally
acceptable to express approval of it, thus no positive language exists. Just a
thought, but maybe you want to use being friendly or sociable instead of
flirting: 実際はナンパじゃなくって、ただ社交的にしているだけだ。
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If you are looking for euphemism, there are plenty:

>   * お茶でも飲みに行かない? [Tokyo]
>   * 茶でもしばかへん? [Osaka]
>   * 出会いを求めています
>
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How about 甘い話し

Not nearly as sexually driven as the other terms, just a little sweet talking
if you will!
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Japanese has negative, positive, and neutral terms for flirting. There's
'husband/wife hunting' `婚活`, 'stalking/creep hitting' `ナンパ`, 'puppy love
flirting' `初恋の人の話しをする`, and everything in between. What would probably fit
best for you is: `デートに誘いたいんじゃなくて、友達として本当に可愛かったから言っただけだよ。`. This means, in a
kind of sweet/genuine tone (thus the ん): "I'm not trying to force a hook up or
anything. I say things like 'you're cute,' just as a friend, as free
conversation." It's probably something that probably wouldn't come off as
offensive.

Just let me know if you have any questions. The natural way to say it is 'just
talking' or, 'I was just saying'. It's a natural way to say what you want to
say, but without knowing the situation, I think it's hard to be sure.

You can definitely say `ただ話したかっただけ`. That means: "It was just idle chat," as
in, "Don't read so much into it."

There isn't a lot of snarkiness in Japan. So, it's difficult to come off like:
`夜を楽しく` or `ピロートーク` without overstepping your bounds. You can say those things
if you want and try to be sarcastic, but I'm pretty sure it's going to sound
strong. Sarcasm isn't common in Japan.

The strongest thing you can say is likely `仲良くなりたい`->"I just want to get
along". That's what I would consider the 'upper limit' of "just friends".

**-Update-**

`ツンデレ` might mean 'flirting' as a near equivalence of the "innocent" English
word, "Flirt". Pretend you have a friend who met a guy she really liked. She
then told you about it, but she said, "I was dorky and grumpy," or, "I was
obvious," or, "I didn't let on enough/right," or, "I came on too strong...."
You would say, `何でそなにツンデレをしました!?` Hehe....
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_I know I missed the bounty party, but let me leave a scribbling on the napkin
lying on this table here._

I'm going to take the path of concocting a new word or phrase to express the
idea of flirting. I know I'm quit a newbie in this particular area, but I'm
taking a shot nevertheless.

I've seen all the translations offered by dictionaries but (1) some of them
have negative connotation and (2) some of them imply that the participants
intend to go all the way beyond talks and winks if they get the chance. ex.
いちゃつく モーションをかける 流し目を送る 秋波を送る..

To really say "we're not serious, just blahing" and cut off the negativity
attached to the act, something more abstract is called for, like

> ナンパじゃなくて、大人のやりとりをしてただけだよ

  * 大人の grownup-
  * やりとり exchange of words, signs, etc.

It's substandard usage, but 大人の have multitudes of implications already, from
simply "adult" to a clean way to say "dirty", so no one will complain if you
slip in a new sense.

Alternatively, you can go the other extreme to make it clear you're not going
for a serious relationship.

> ナンパじゃなくて、発情してただけだよ

  * 発情 in estrus, in heat

Lastly, you can coin a new word to mark that it's a new concept.

> ナンパじゃなくて、色気ニケーション {いろけにけーしょん} (色気 + コミュニケーション) だよ

  * 色気 romance, sex appeal
  * Note: there's already another word that uses a similar compound formation: [飲みニケーション](http://www.japaneseexpressions.com/2010/10/21/nominikeeshon/) (the kind of interaction only possible under the influence of alcohol)
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I don't see any mention of 口説く in the previous answers, but it seems pretty
close to what you want. The connotation can be negative or positive depending
solely on the individual's outlook:

*同じ口説き文句*でも好きな人から言われれば天国に行った気分になるし、嫌いな人から言われれば吐き気がするものです。 "Even if the words are the same, if they're said by someone I like, it feels like heaven. But if they're from someone I don't like, I feel like throwing up."〔【出典】Hiragana Times, 1994年3月

デートならどんな場合でもロマンチックな意味があるはずだから、男性が女性に言い寄って*口説き落とそう*とするはずです。 Any date probably
has a romantic connotation attached to it and the lady should be wooed and
swept off her feet.〔【出典】Hiragana Times, 2003年1月号◆【出版社】株式会社ヤック企画 〕

[More at alc](http://eow.alc.co.jp/%B8%FD%C0%E2%A4%AD/EUC-JP/).

It's worth mentioning that there's a distilled alcohol with the playful name
くどき上手. If it were only looked on negatively, I'm sure sales would be poor :)
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