Shikata ga nai

nihongo|Shikata ga nai| is a Japanese language phrase meaning "it can't be helped" or "nothing can be done about it". nihongo|Shō ga nai| is an alternative.

Cultural associations

The phrase has been used by many western writers to describe the ability of the Japanese people to maintain dignity in the face of an unavoidable tragedy or injustice, particularly when the circumstances are beyond their control. Historically, it has been applied Fact|date=November 2007 to situations in which masses of Japanese people as a whole have been made to suffer, including the Allied Occupation of Japan and the internment of Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians.

In "Asian American Women: The "Frontiers" Reader", author Linda Trinh Vo states:

The Japanese phrase "shikata ga nai", or "it can't be helped," indicates cultural norms over which one has little control... This notion of suffering in part stems from "shikata ga nai": failing to follow cultural norms and social conventions led to a life of little choice but endurance of suffering. ref|asianamericanwomen

The phrase also can have negative connotations, as some may perceive the lack of reaction to adversity as complacence, both to social and political forces. In a "Business Week" article, a Western businessman says of Japanese people:

He encourages Japanese not to succumb to the "shikata ga nai" mentality but to get angry and start behaving like citizens. "Japanese people listen to me because I'm always pushing what the possibilities are and how things can change...to ensure positive economic and political prospects..." ref|businessweek1

Literary references

* Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, in her book "Farewell to Manzanar", devoted a chapter to the concept, and used it to explain why the Japanese-Americans interned in the US during World War II did not put up more of a struggle against the horrible conditionsFact|date=April 2007 and restrictive policies put upon them.
* Rahna Reiko Rizzuto's family tragedy "Why She Left Us" also includes a chapter titled "Shikata ga nai".
* In the historical manga "Barefoot Gen", many of the citizens in Hiroshima use the phrase "Shikata ga nai" to explain why they accept the military rule, and the acceptance of the below-poverty conditions that cause many of their citizens to starve.
*In the science fiction novel "Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson, the phrase is translated as "there is no other choice". Introduced by the Japanese character Hiroko Ai, it becomes common slang among the first Martian colonists, and is used when the constraints of their situation allow only one course of action.
* James Clavell's "Shogun" uses this phrase as a subtheme, although there it is rendered as "Shigata ga nai", which is a misspelling – there is no rendaku in the term.
* Graham Salisbury's "Under the Blood Red Sun" uses this phrase for a chapter title.
* "Shoganai" is a track on King Crimson's Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With EP.
* "Shikata ga-nai" was used in Herman Hersy's Hiroshima after efforts to assist fatally injured "hibakusha", or survivors of either of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ceased.

ee also

*Fatalism

References

* Linda Trinh Vo, Marian Sciachitano, In " [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0803296274&id=QZpnYxSLicAC&pg=PA113&lpg=PA113&dq=shikata+ga+nai&sig=nP2F-xgsIf3gjjXzvOo-po33sQI Asian American Women: The "Frontiers" Reader] ". University of Nebraska Press. p. 113. ISBN 0-8032-9627-4. Google Books. Retrieved May 15, 2006.
* Neff, Robert, (Oct. 30, 2000). " [http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_44/b3705125.htm Japan Explained] ". Business Week.

External links

* [http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,776254,00.html "Shikata ga nai"] an article from Time magazine on Allied Occupation of Japan (October 8, 1945)