40471
I have seen vegetarian translated as both `bejitarian` and `Saishokushugi`.

`bejitarian` is obviously an adaptation of vegetarian.

`Saishokushugi` can be loosely translated as faith to vegetables.

But what's the difference between the two terms and when would you use one
over the other?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-27T17:18:05.950
40385
2016-10-29T02:38:57.750
9537
question
words
What's the difference between bejitarian and Saishokushugi?
I took a look at the [Japanese wikipedia article for
Vegetarianism](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%99%E3%82%B8%E3%82%BF%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%82%BA%E3%83%A0).
I'm basing my answer on that, because I have little personal experience
although I've been asked this a few times.

ベジタリアン is, as you said, an imported word. It has the same meaning as in
english. There are different sub-types of vegetarian, etc. It also **does not
indicate** the reason you are vegetarian. It could be for political beliefs,
religious beliefs or even because you saw an animal getting killed once and
just can't eat meat anymore.

菜食主義{さいしょくしゅぎ} denotes specifically a kind of vegetarianism guided by buddhist
practices and beliefs. According to the Wiki article, it (sometimes) has an
extra restriction on eating certain kinds of roots. Guided by the [Wikipedia
article in English on Buddhist
Vegetarianism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_vegetarianism) it seems
some variations of Buddhism also disencourage consuming vegetables if this
kills the plant, thus things like garlic and onion are also forbidden (this is
called 禁葷食{きんくんしょく}). But not all buddhists follow this principle; some
encourage it, others reinforce it only for monks, some not even for monks.
There's a lot of variation apparently.

So when you talk about 菜食主義者{さいしょくしゅぎ}, you talk specifically about **the
reason** one has a dietary restriction. It is because one follows buddhist
faith and principles.

The short answer if you're looking for how to talk about your own dietary
restrictions is motivation: unless it is this specific Buddhist set of beliefs
that guides your vegetarianism, use ベジタリアン (ヴィーガン if that suits you better).
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-28T17:40:45.600
40459
2016-10-28T17:40:45.600
18457
40385
answer
菜食主義 ( _saishoku-shugi_ ) is vegetarianism, and 菜食主義者 ( _saishoku-shugi-sha_ )
is a vegetarian, a person who practice vegetarianism. To break down:

  * 菜 _sai_ : vegetable
  * 食 _shoku_ : eat
  * 主義 _shugi_ : belief, ism
  * 者 _sha_ : person

To me, ベジタリアン and 菜食主義 **者** are almost identical as far as meaning goes. I
believe you can safely use whichever you prefer in most cases. In casual
settings, I feel many people prefer ベジタリアン, presumably because it sounds less
stiff and is a lot easier to pronounce.

The number of vegetarians in Japan is probably small, and I feel few people in
Japan practice vegetarianism for religious or ethical reasons. Most
vegetarians in Japan refuse to eat meat for health-related reasons, so 菜食主義者
and ベジタリアン usually refer to such people. I'm vaguely aware that there are many
sub-types of vegetarianism in western countries (including veganism), but they
are scarcely recognized here in Japan.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-29T02:30:01.893
40471
2016-10-29T02:38:57.750
2016-10-29T02:38:57.750
5010
5010
40385
answer