Why are Japanese so slim?

People bicycle to work, women bicycle home at 9 or 10 P.M. and apparently feel perfectly safe. There are wide sidewalks and bicycling on the sidewalk is permitted. It helps that there is no broken glass on the streets or sidewalks, as the Japanese don't litter.
Small portions have been mentioned. It's true. We splurged a time or two on an elaborate 20 course meal, but each course was small. The emphasis was on the presentation, not the amount of food.

Yes, many bicycle to the nearest station and then walk or walk a lot in one day and back, so forth. It's nice most cities in Japan are set up that way.

bicycling on the sidewalk is permitted

It is only permitted if there is a round blue sign showing a pedestrian and bicyclist. If there are no such signs, then bicycles belong to the road. In praxis, many cyclists ignore this fact or are unaware of it.

Japanese meals are a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but a lot of variety. Not huge portions of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas/carrots like American meals. All the little dishes add up to make you full (think of a ryokan meal).

No doubt food is low fat, with seafood predominating. Probably the healthiest dose of protein possible is sashimi.

Japanese exercise a lot; you see old men and ladies riding bikes. Many live far from the train stations and have to walk. And Japanese love to travel; visiting the temples and shrines usually involves a lot of walking or climbing stairs.

I do believe that genetics and the centuries of eating small portions and low fat foods has a role. But this will change in a couple of generations with the preponderance of sausages, cheese, pizzas, hot dogs, gyozas, and beef these days. The 3rd generation Japanese-Americans in Hawaii are starting to have weight problems with those 800 calorie, 3-lb plate lunches and preponderance of pork in local food.

Yes, average Japanese (in Japan) eat proportionally small meals that are low in calories.
Some of their foods are high in fat or protein but they eat very little of them along with other foods and a small bowl of rice stretches the amount of foods they eat and makes one feel satiated.

I'm a Japanese girl,
and I think one big reason why most of Japanese girls are slim is most of us don't eat so much.
And we pay attention not to eat so much because we don't wanna be so fat!
So most of Japanese girl have been on diet... :(

Thank you for all your interesting posts.

I have a good idea of the japanese way of eating now.

It is very satisfying to eat little portions of everything, not big plate of potatoes and meat and so on. I find that when I go to restaurants that are not japanese, I can never finish their big portions of one thing, like chicken or pototoes.

I didn't know Japanese people were so active in their daily life. I live in the city and people rely on london transport or cars to get around. To be more active you have to make a conscious choice to do more walking or go to the gym or something.

I also have an office job, it does not feel good to sit at a desk all day. Humans were not designed to sit for 7+ hours at a desk. I am even looking into other jobs that would let me be more active.

I have started losing a few lbs and lost 3% of my body fat since cooking and eating Japanese food. Cool huh? :)

I am always interested to hear your views on getting more healthy.

i skimmed over all the other answers, and i'm not sure if someone already mentioned this, and if someone did, then i guess i'll just reitterate.

GREEN TEA!

it (supposedly) has properties that naturally burn fat and boost your metabolism, which is why if you check out so many diet supplements on the market today a lot of them are made with green tee extract.

and. of course, like everyone else has already said; smaller portions, fresh un-processed food, daily exercise, andprobably also the fact that a lot of the food is often steamed and cooked in healthier ways than always being deep fried and dripping in grease like we westerners like it... =/

i just remembered a documentary by john robbins (a big vegan health guru) where it was pointed out that westerners make things like meat the main portion of a meal, with other things like vegetables as a small side dish, where as in asian countries, the meat isnt a big deal, its usually an equal portion to the healthy "side" dishes.

If you think about it japanese do eat a lot of protein, it comes from fish, soy sauce and soy products.

I dont really know why they are so slim, perhaps its by choice. I know one thing, sumo stars arent slim LoL = /

First of all, Japanese Girls do not eat much because we do not want to get fat.

Second of all, Japanese are very health conscious. We eat heathy food with moderate potion. (Sometime, Japanese obsess with trendy health food, drink, supplements, equipments, and so on.)

The third, in Japanese tradition, especially among ladies, over eating considers as mannerless behavior.

If you study Japanese history and culture, you will know the reasons more. I think Japanese eat more vegetables included sea vegetables, soy products, grains, and fish. We started eating beef about 100 years ago because of Western influence. However, the portion of meet intake is very small. Over all, we eat balanced valanced food in moderate portion.

i am japanese, was raised in the US, have not lost a single pound since moving to japan over a year ago and switching/adapting to a completely japanese diet/lifestyle (i was considered slim in the US but am on the big side in comparison to the girls here) i know of 5 other japanese girls in exactly the same situation as i (3 of which, have actually gained weight since the move)i know of at least 20 born-and-raised-in-japan japanese girls who gained weight after a short period spent abroad. my take on all this: NOT THE FOOD, NOT THE GENETICS (although the genetics do kick in after a certain age)

i am currently a university student and have on a daily basis, oppurtunities to observe the eating habits of japanese girls my age: many do not eat 3 meals a day (for lack of time or cash - that's what they say, and i by nature do not choose to question them) at times, when i go out for lunch with friends, they'll choose to sit there and sip a drink while i have a full meal. if they do eat, i usually end up finishing it off for them (because they ask me to, not because i ask for it haha)

eating, for me, is an experience, something to whole heartedly enjoy. eating, for japanese girls, seems more like a necessity, a chore. (they are satisfied enjoying the company they are with or the atmosphere they are in when dining) THIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS FOOD i think, is what keeps these girls thin, aside from the obvious: peer pressure + dieting

one thing that may help: DARK CHOCOLATE, a diet fad in japan right now. it suppresses the appetite and is healthy in certain amounts (86% cocoa chocolate bars are working for me. v bitter but i've since gotten used to it and am liking it!) i have it AFTER eating meals, when i feel that i want to stop myself from eating any more. think of it as dessert.

thanks for reading through and best of luck with losing the weight (healthily!)

A balanced diet WITH daily exercise.

1) They eat smaller PORTIONS than we(Americans) do.

2) Majority of the day they spend WALKING to their destinations... whether it's to or from school... stores... hooking up with friends at Harajuko... whatever.

3) they don't BAN anything from their everyday diet. With each meal they eat rice, fish, and vegetables.

See? Simple indeed. If you look at the true portion size that a person is supposed to eat you will be surprised. I bought a portion plate and wow... no onder America is obese.

It simply has to do with the lifestyles that westerners live, compared to those of Japan.

Everything here [in the US] is about speed, affordability, and quantity for price. I've lived here longer than I care to admit, and by doing so, have ensured that my health is less desirable then our smarter counterparts.

I loved this place at times, but as the years pass by, it's evident that we're heading in the wrong direction. You can see this as each generation is introduced here (fatter, lazier, more reliant on others, and without any kind of tradition to follow). It's really really sad, but it seems inevitable.

Actually, the japanese eat a lot. they have very big portions, and the food is pretty cheap. My host father is constantly ordering me extra food, and I have seen my brothers and sisters put away amazing amounts. (The girls are still short though!! I a am midget and I am tall here!!) I now eat a lot as well, and they also snack quite a bit. Maybe because they don't eat sweet things? Well, what they call sweet is pretty much tasteless to me, a aussie.

Did someone above really say "the Japanese don't litter"??!! That is really absurd. I love many things about the Japanese people, but dropping gomi all over the place isn't one of them. The only reason some areas are so tidy is that there is an army of cleaners to pick everything up.

If you are anywhere near Tokyo or Kanagawa, visit Enoshima Beach in summer and watch thousands of people every day leave their plastic bags, PET bottles, cans and food wrappers on the beach, to be blown around and picked up by the tide. It's more unusual to see people pick up their garbage and take it with them.

Mt. Fuji used to be another good example of this, it's improving, but it's far from litter-free, and no, it's not the non-Japanese dropping the garbage.

I don't know what part of Japan whoever wrote that spends his time in, but it seems to be very unique.

Although this is completely off-topic:

I think littering is very uncommon on the streets of Japanese cities, but it is a huge problem outside of the cities, where people just deposit their garbage into the nature, including household garbage, pet bottles, picnic remains and even whole cars etc.

But the situation seems to be improving quite a lot in recent years/decades thanks to education efforts. When I climbed Mount Fuji, it was completey free of any garbage.

slim girl? No, She's borderline anorexic.
http://nekojiro.cool.ne.jp/yuko/saita.jpg
This's a real Japanese girl who eat a gyudon with a American beef.
http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/saiko_kaigi/imgs/0/3/033b3a3b.jpg

when japanese eat rice or noodles they dont only eat that. with noodles comes meat and plenty of veg. also many have a healthy interest since high school such as tennis, running etc etc