美化

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 美化(びか) means making an environment beautiful or presenting something as better than it really was.
• Basic usage: For improving surroundings it appears in 町の美化活動; for idealizing the past it appears in 過去を美化する.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Separate the positive and critical senses
  • Beautifying a place is positive, but portraying facts as better than reality can carry a critical sense.
• Difference from 改善
  • 改善(かいぜん) means correcting a problem to improve function or condition, while 美化 focuses on beauty or favorable presentation.