Reaction toward fat women?

Once I went from Tokyo to Osaka by bus and I CANNOT recommend that for overweight people.
Even if you are not really overweight.

I am slightly overweight (and not tall - 155cm) and I just fitted in that tiny little seat on the bus. Anyone with more on the hips would not have been able to fit in there ... It was definetely a bus for Japanese ;)

There are also big differences between the buses. Comfort is usually proportional to the ticket price. Cheap buses tend to have small seats in rows of four, while the more expensive buses have wider seats in rows of only three seats and two aisles.

Here are photos of a better bus (available on many night bus routes):
http://www.kakuyasubus.jp/kanto_kansai/dream/index.html

And photos of a "premium bus" (only available on very few routes):
http://www.kakuyasubus.jp/kanto_kansai/premium_deream/index.html

i'm black andi'm fat and i want to study in Japan. now that i've read this, i don't think I'll ever go. medically, i fall into the obese category. buti don't feel like i weigh a million pounds. i think can deal with being black in Japan. i know that the weight "problem" will be more hurtful than comments about my skin color and race. and what if i do want to date? i'll be there for 10 months...a sista can get lonely...what about that, huh? i don't have high hopes though...

don't worry about race, it's not much of an issue. you might catch flak from old people but all foreigners do at some point really. old people are old people no matter where you go in the world.

your weight will be a bigger problem, but don't consider it to be a chain. you might hate hearing it but you should really lose weight if you think or know you are fat. i came to japan and i was fat. i probably should have dieted before i came. anyway, when i got here i lost 20lbs in my first month. now i lose weight much more slowly since i'm not working in such a hot and heavy industry anymore, but still, losing weight can be done. and it's not that difficult. give it a try, and don't give up before you even come here!

I'm not saying that I won't ever go to Japan. My wanderlust always outweighs my fears and apprehensions. I do plan to lose a little weight before I go (summer 2009) but it's freaking hard. Besides I'm pretty comfortable in my skin here...I wonder how that will translate in Japan?

i should have mentioned i'm not a woman, just a regular (white, super white, everyone says to me "iro ga sugoku shiroi!")

you will feel uncomfortable here if you are too fat. being 20-40lbs overweight is one thing. if you're anything over that, you will feel self conscious because almost no one here other than foreigners are seriously overweight (though you occasionally see some very overweight people).

it's actually not that hard to lose weight - it doesn't even require exercise. just cut your diet to basic foods that are filling. for example i lost 20 pounds in a month by eating a breakfast of rice, hard boiled eggs (sometimes 1, sometimes 2 eggs) and a few vegetables. i skipped lunch, and ate a big dinner.

i think if you do the same you'll see the same results. especially if you are big to start with, it's usually pretty easy to drop 10-30 pounds initially before the metabolism changes and then you have to start working out to lose more.

anyway, try your best. as has been mentioned, seats here are smaller and in fact everything here is smaller and more narrow than in the states. i have seen a few obese americans have a rough time getting into and out of booth seats at izakaya and family restaurants. being slimmer just makes everything better and you'll feel better too not having to carry the weight around anymore. i know i also gained about 3cm once i lost most of my weight. the weight was squishing my spine and made me shorter than i was supposed to be.

I think the reason why I'm having such a hard time wrapping my mind around this whole thing is cuz I'm conflicted. I don't feel I should have to change for people I don't know but at the same time, I don't want to be a "social pariah" (i doubt it's really that serious) for some thing that I could change. I guess i'd feel like i was selling out. Isn't that weird?

This time one year ago I was 107kg (235lb), when I went to Japan in November last year I had a weight of about 80kg and was really proud of the weight I lost. I am 170cm (5'7ft)

But then when I got to Japan I lost my confidence. I knew beforehad I would get stared at, but I had a hard time accepting it when it was actually happening. Also people wouldn't sit by me on the trains, every seat could be filled and people standing but still they wouldn't sit next to me. Although I didn't have any problems with seat sizes etc.

I am currently 67kg (148lb)and hope to loose about 2 more kg within the next 2 weeks. I will be interested to see if people will sit next to me this time haha!

SallieB: you shouldn't change for others,only for yourself. Don't obsess on your weight and looks but look deep down in yourself and find what makes you truly happy. You must only change yourself to please yourself, not others.I had a toxic family and by 17 was a chubby lonely guy. I was sent to a college far away from home. The phys.ed teacher was young,fresh out of school, and made us all, jocks and geeks alike, train for fitness not competition. He was also able to find something good about each one of us (this is very important and do it with my staff). We never played a full game for competition, only played a bit of volley ball, then basket ball or.. then ran an obstacle course, then went swiming 30 minutes etc. we call it cross training now. I, and other geeks, discovered muscles we didn't know we had and enjoyed physical activity for the first time. When I went back home my family was HORRIFIED to see me slimmer, physically active, going out with guys and girls my age. I didn't planned to change yet this is what I truly needed. The self confidence I gained helped me move to a different continent and culture, get a good job, meet a lovely person. I am still active and my weight still the same..I MUST say that of all the problems people have to face being fat is nothing. Compared to severe physical diformities from birth, physical handicaps, diseases, having a toxic family, a crappy low paid job, loosing fat is not that hard. DO NOT GO ON A DIET, eat a balanced variety of foods,cut back on quantities AND exercise (walking is cheap and it really works). I find that many young Japanese-girls and boys-are much too thin to be healthy and this just as bad as morbid obesity even if it looks more stylish.

Thanks for that monkey see. i'm a bit neurotic when it comes to doing new things, i guess. i guess if you can do it with a toxic fam, i can do it too. if i start now (cuz i'm not going till next summer, i hope) it shouldn't be that big a deal to me. maybe i should wear a t-shirt with a pic of how big i once was on it when i get to japan...;)

just do it and don't stop once you start. i don't quite agree with monkey's post about dieting as i'm not sure he realizes how difficult exercising can be if you're way way way over your normal body weight. it can do more harm than good. but whatever. i wouldn't even focus on "how big you were before". just buy a scale and try to get it down 1kg a week by dieting and walking. the slimmer you get the easier it gets to be more active.

Because I keep hearing/ reading things like "almost no Japanese people are overweight" as above, I started to make a point of looking out for overweight Japanese people, and I started seeing plenty of them- not just a bit chubby, but considerably overweight. Just my observation, but there seem to be more overweight women than men, at least around where I live.

The numbers are not nearly as high as in North America, Australia etc., but they are increasing.

You may well find that the increased amount of walking you will be doing compared to in the US, plus the different food and smaller portions will cause you to lose a bit anyway.

Exercise doesn't only mean bodybuilding and hard cardio. Obese people that come in the gym I use start with light weights, on machines, under the supervision of a staff. By exercising (for a heavy weight person) I was more thinking about walking. One of my neighbours was told by his doctor that he HAD to walk no matter what. He started with a few blocks, just going from home to the transit stop. 4 months later he was walking for 1 hr daily everyday, rain or shine (on rainy days he goes to a 400 stores mall on 3 levels and goes around and around). In one year he lost 100 pounds. Of course he changed his dietary habits too. I don't like the idea of DIET because for too many people this means something drastic and weird that is only done for a couple of months then stopped. I believe that one should eliminate foods rich in EMPTY calories (like soft drinks, especially in the huge sizes we have in North America)and eliminate as many manufactured foodstuff as possible (even lite salad dressing)and eat a variety of nutritionally rich foodstuffs in SMALL portions. Eating 4 to 6 very small meals is more satisfying than 2 moderate meals as one doesn't wait for so long between meals. At work the staff are from well over a dozen different cultures and eat mostly the cuisine from their native countries yet most are normal weight so weight control has nothing to do with special magic foods. The common denominators between our "international" meals are small portions and a wide variety of foodstuff. Interestingly, although our work is physical, many of our women staff over 40 go to the gym. Whenever I go to a restaurant in North America I alway leave 1/2 of the food on the plate, no matter how good it taste. At home I eat a mix of Japanese and European dishes.

Unless you are in a part of Japan that is heavily populated with gaijin (like parts of Tokyo etc) all foreigners get stared at and talked about in Japan.
When it happens dont assume it is because of your size.. could just be because of your big nose!! :) (Joke!)
We look different and that is just the deal.. what is more important is behaviour..
The loud talking, self centred, swaggering type behaviour many gaijin exhibit here is more embarrassing than the way anyone looks.
Be polite, quiet and modest and relax and enjoy your stay!

As a Japanese-Westerner who'd had the misfortune of spending time primary schooling in Japan, I am aware that the Japanese are very fat-conscious and judgemental toward those considered overweight. I can recall the school physical exams where all the pupils were lined up in their underwear to be weighed and height-measured. If a pupil was deemed overweight, the school nurse and the teacher chastised him/her and cracked a fat joke to the amusement of the child's classmates. This sort of thing would horrify and infuriate a European or American parent but in Japan, health (along with many other matters considered private territory in the West) is dealt with in a collectivist and public way.
So don't be surprised by the occasional impolite remark. It comes from the territory.

Re Suki post: I was born in Western Europe and, when I was young, all sorts of people definitely commented on others' fatness, ugliness, clothes etc.. We too had to line up 3/4 naked--I am a man--once a year in school and totally naked at 18 for a special physical prior to going to the army (all fit males HAD to go to the army). Anyway, the doctors would always comment on our fatness, lack of muscles, or even our skinnyness etc. Whenever one bought clothes in a store the staff would refuse to sell clothes--to men and women alike-- that didn't suit their figure. They would recommend something they felt was more "flattering" even if you didn't agree..and were usually right. Only the other day a French TV station had a program on women bodies and all the women that called themselves fat, overweight etc. were in fact slim by North American standards (I live in Canada).

Japanese will stare just because you are Gaijin, not just fat. I used to be fat in Japan (had surgery since) and the only problem I had was in tight spaces in stores and buildings since they are sized for smaller people. Being fat never affected my relationships there and I even had very petite beautiful girlfriends when I was there. Go, have fun, and forget about fat.

I'm about a US 20 and I went to Japan a week ago. I got a few stares and one tut-tut (but that could've been from me just being a foreigner in a place where there aren't many foreigners in Japan), but the only people staring openly were looking at my hair and my skin I think (I'm black).

I think I *lost* 5lbs in one week when I was there just by walking all day and taking those endless stairs on the subways.

I wouldn't feel bad about going there again. I was travelling with two others (my husband and his friend) but I was alone at times and everyone was great. And I even found clothes in the plus sized section of a department store.

Good luck!

I just got back from a trip to japan of tokyo/osaka/hakone and kyoto...after reading this thread I was a little concerned being a big girl in japan but there was absolutely NOTHING to worry about at all.I got a few stares but that could be for a million reasons..least of all being big.Could be my really fair skin and big eyes..the trick is to be confident with yourself and assume that if people are looking at you,it's for reasons other than thinking your fat!
everyone one was absolutely lovely no-one really glanced for more than a few seconds they were much more concerned with getting on with their day!
anyone that is concerned they will be laughed at or blatantly stared at everywhere need not worry at all.it's an amazing place full of lovely people.Girls with big boobs WILL get alot of stares from japanese businessmen though...and they really aren't looking at your face but who cares..you are there to have a good time!I also did notice here were quite a few(obviously not as much as america and australia though) bigger people in japan with the influx of western food.nothing to worry about at all!

I'm very happy I read this.
I am 5'5',and weigh 120.The doctor tells me this is the thinnest I can get,if i loose any more i'll be sickly.
Anyways,now i know that even though americans are built larger than japanese,i wont be looked at and thought of as "fat"