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Today I noticed [this article about eating disorders in
Japan](http://biulimiafighting.info/dying-to-be-thin-anorexia-in-japan-tbij/),
which I got to via the [News on Japan
site](http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/96325.php).

The first line jumps out at me. Supposedly, in an interview, a 25 year old
Japanese woman named "Hachiko" says:

> In Japanese there are no words for “I’m suffering” or “I’m sad”. I can’t
> share my feelings with anyone. Needing help is seen as failure, something to
> be ashamed of.

_Maybe_ needing help is seen as failure, but I can think of a few ways to say
"I'm suffering" or "I'm sad". Just off the top of my head:

> 私{わたし}は悲{かな}しい
>
> あたしは苦{くる}しんでいます
>
> 自分{じぶん}の置{お}かれた状態{じょうたい}はきつい

So I'm wondering, is this just a reporter's ham-fisted attempt to inflate the
human drama by painting a picture of a cruel and uncaring Japanese culture
that exacerbates eating disorders?

Or is there any logical justification at all for claiming that the nuances of
the Japanese language don't accurately convey the suffering someone with an
eating disorder might feel?
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2012-05-20T06:53:05.960
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2012-05-20T23:05:05.647
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question
word-choice translation culture
What do you mean, "In Japanese there are no words for "I’m suffering""?
> So I'm wondering, is this just a reporter's ham-fisted attempt to inflate
> the human drama by painting a picture of a cruel and uncaring Japanese
> culture that exacerbates eating disorders?

There could be several reasons I can think of:

  1. The Japanese woman who said this might of meant it "metaphorically" rather than "literally", in the sense that there is a tendency to not express ones inner feelings as much in Japan as in other cultures. However, anybody that has studied Japanese before should be able to realize that the sentence is false, so it's obvious the author is inept.

  2. Somewhere along the lines, the actual meaning of the quote got botched, perhaps by the interpreter or someone else (this is very common and often leads to false information) (maybe due to reason #1).

  3. The author exaggerated to get people's attention and sell magazines (the original article is from Marie Claire magazine). Unfortunately, the majority of the audience probably wouldn't realize this, which gives a false conception about Japanese to the general public (for example, as an extreme case of a false conception, in America, I met a person who asked me if people in Japan walk around with swords like "Samurai").

But the moral of the story is don't always believe what you read.
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2012-05-20T23:05:05.647
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2012-05-20T23:05:05.647
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answer