Why are Japanese so slim?

just wanted to add that I think there's a phenominal amount of pressure on Japanese girls to look slim/pretty/well turned out. They ALL looked immaculate on my recent visit, (like ALL of them!). When in England, I always feel well dressed, but when in Japan, I felt like I looked like a tramp! It was most disheartening! They're definitely the most dedicated followers of fashion I've ever encountered!

That is so absolutely truth! I always heard a lot of things about Japanese women, that they have perfect skin, etc, but found out that most of those things aren't really truth. However, one thing must be said about them, whether pretty or ugly, fat or thin, young or old, Japanese women really pay a lot of attention to the way they look. I too was impressed with how concerned they are with looking good. They were constantly checking their make-up (most seem to be experts in that area), fixing their hair and no matter what style of clothes they were wearing they always looked very proper and feminine. It was impressive! I have to say high heels helped a lot. I usually wear high heels all the time but while I was there I had to walk a lot due to all the sight seeing so I decided to wear snickers. The one time I decided to wear the amazing high heeled sandals I bought at Shibuya 109 I looked (and felt) completely different. Of course at the end of the day I could barely walk. :p That's another amazing thing about Japanese women, they wear high heels everywhere. I saw them wearing high heels when visiting temples located on top of hills, when riding bicycles, everywhere. It's quite amazing!

i think that they are so slim because their is a lot of over weight gaijin people who are no taking care of themself and add insulin use it's safer to be slim then full sizes or over weight catching mystries deceases or damaging your body from someone over use of the drug of insulin adrenlins and moiphine adrenlins to keep working or being active at work or doing something serious like exams or test for schooling or better jobs in Japan this a quest but most people are fitt and health with health attuides so what ever japanesse people to stay slim is their secret Money like everbody else in the world.

I think you will find it is partly genetic (in the genes) and partly because Japanese walk and cycle everywhere! And partly due to the types of foods they eat - mostly healthy fresh foods and not much junk.

Hardly anyone drives, they all take public transport and walk or cycle the rest of the time.

Many of us Westerners are just plain lazy and eat too much junk food.

I have to say high heels helped a lot. I usually wear high heels all the time but while I was there I had to walk a lot due to all the sight seeing so I decided to wear snickers.

Good for you. continue wearing snickers! Or anything else apart from high heels! They may make you look more appealling thanks to a changed body pose that accentuates the brest and the hips more, but they will kill your feet. If you wear high heels regularly, your big toes will start to move to an unnatural position due to the constant pressure and the bone structure on that part of the foot will change. Just look at the feet of old women and you will see the future of high-heeled feet.
It's just not worth it. Luckily I got my girlfriend to only wear high heels on special occasions and not on a daily basis.

Wearing snickers? I think you mean sneakers. A Snickers is a chocolate bar...
;-)

I think it's a combination of reasons why they are so slim. Appearance and fashion play the biggest role though imo. When i first came to tokyo the first thing i thought was "Wow everyone is so so skinny." I felt fat and im small for a man (5'9 - 124 lbs)There is definately a feeling of pressure to me skinny and dress well. even at 5:00am catching the bus home in shibuya, you will never find a girl without heels, perfect hair, and perfect makeup. another reason is that alot of japanese simply don't eat as much and enjoy the presentation of the food presented rather than the size of portion. But of coarse there are many heavy set japanese men and woman ^-^. Hara Hachi Bu

Lol! You're right ..., my mistake. :D

As for the Japanese eating smaller quantities of food than their Western counterparts, I have to say I don't quite agree with that. It's usually Americans who say that so I suppose Japanese people do eat less than the Americans. However, I'm a Westerner and I think they eat a lot. While I was in Japan I was served huge bowls of rice and noodles. Sometimes I even felt sick from eating so much food and it wasn't just me, my boyfriend felt the same way. If Americans think they eat small amounts of food then it's my opinion that the American eat gigantic portions of food. No wonder they have weight issues.

Japanese food is quite healthy. In fact the Japanese diet and the Mediterranean diet are considered the healthiest in the world. Their main fault is the excessive use of salt.

I believe the Japanese manage to stay thin through a combination of factors:
-Healthy diet despite relatively big quantities of food.
-Active lifestyle. They walk and ride bicycles a lot.
-Pressure to be thin. This sort of pressure exists everywhere but it seems to be more extreme in Japan.

I live in a Mediterranean country and despite our very healthy food people here keep on getting fatter. Why? Because with every day that passes we eat more junk food and less fish, fruit and vegetables (the main reasons why the Mediterranean diet is so good) and also because we're lazy. People drive their cars everywhere, they don't exercise. How could they not become fat?

I have been in Japan for just over 12 months, and I've lost nearly 15kg since arriving without dieting. I eat mainly Japanese food ('cause I love it!) and occasionally have the odd Italian meal. I drink mainly Shochu or wine during dinner, and the usual weekend outings (bars) would drink probably too much ;) I gave up on the gym in Japan because of work, and the reality is with all the walking and cycling you do in Japan (if you don't have a car) is enough, for me anyways....BUT, everytime I go back home to Australia, and even for only a few days I would put on maybe 2-3kgs. It's definitely the diet (more red meat) and lack of physical activity. That's what I put it down to. I didn't consider myself as a big red meat eater in Australia, but when you compare it to Japan, it's clear as you hardly eat any red meat (unless you're willing to pay heaps for it). And even when you do, you're only eating 100gm or less....But I've now hit a standstill, and I want to lose another couple of kgs...But summer is coming, and walking/cycling in Tokyo is like being in a steamroom...so no problem :-)

Come on guys, some of you are making Japanese women sound like the ultimate Barbie. I've seen plenty of dumpy/sloppy/ill-dressed Japanese women around. Omg yes they do exist!

Anyways back to the original question. Japanese people are skinnier simply because they don't lay on the cheese and meat in every meal.

JimSlim: I was overwhelmed by the portion of food in Autralia, they gave me twice the amount I usually ate.

I heard japanese men ages 18 to 30 make up the thinnest percent of the population. It's because it's what is most exceptable and desirable. And if you have never been to japan it is something you will never understand. Many young japanese men and woman put appearance first. becoming obsessed with it. and what i have learned is if japanese people like something they are going to give 110%. So that includes clothes and weight.

I think the real reason for this forum post is because you want to know how to be thin like Japanese. And It's simple, you have to have the genes or learn how to eat with grace. I personally don't think that low fat and high intake of fish has alot to do with why they are thin. Of course it helps, but in reality many eat out experiencing many different types of food such as italian, omrice, korean bbq, macdonalds family mart junk.

I'm not sure if the slimness is 100% genetic. There are variety of sizes in Japan, regardless of sex and age. Life style and food they eat has at least 50% effect on their sizes.

I guess there are some genetic factors like body shape: I noticed a lot of my female Japanese friends have very flat bottom and straight waist. That makes their hips and thighs look slim compared to someone with tiny waist but rounded bottom.

I'm half Japanese, and seems like I inherited English DNA for body shape; unlike my Mum I have figure 8 - small waist, wider hips and rounded bottom. I could wear same size clothes as my friends but I look bigger (or wider)

just walking around the area I live this week I have seen quite a number of very overweight/ borderline obese japanese people, more women than men for some reason, and I also work with a few quite large women too. nothing like the numbers you see in the states, but overweight people definietly exist here.

I doubt it has much to do with genetics- overall body shape might play a part, but I agree with the people who said its portion size and the amount of walking people do.

it doesn't have to be western fast food- eat enough tempura, yakisoba, gyuudon, ramen and yakiniku and don't exercise much and anyone will put on weight, japanese included, and I'm pretty sure that is what i've been seeing this week.

What do you mean by overweight/ borderline obese? out here in Canada one of my colleagues weight 260 lbs for 5 ft 7 inches. she admit being somewhat overweight but definitely not obese and I see her point as there are quite a few people around town that are much bigger than her.

I studied nutrition at college and am a fairly good judge of Body Mass Index, which is a height / weight ratio if you aren't familiar with it. I mean someone who would be near a BMI that is considered by the World Health Organisation to be obese, i.e. overweight to a point where your health is endangered. it's not necessarily something that is only in the eye of the beholder, there are statistics to back this up.

your friend's height and weight give her a BMI of 40, which puts her well into the obese category according to medical experts. if your friend is very muscular/ athletic with a large build then she may not be obese, but she is certainly on the heavy side for a woman- she weighs almost twice what I do. sure there would be bigger people than her around, but they probably fall into the "morbidly obese" category.

I knew all that..I work in health care and we no longer use BMI. Body max index is such a crude way of measuring obesity! It doesn't work for children, old people and muscular people.Two people can have the same weight, same height, same BMI but one could be very muscular while the other could be mostly fat.Big difference in their looks and health risks. Some people can have a "normal" BMI but have more fat than muscles.They have thin arms and legs that are flabby due to lack of exercise and a poor diet! We have found that at work more than once. Measuring the chest, waist and hips and correlating them to height and weight are better indicators than BMI. The interesting fact is that most of the "morbidly obese" (we avoid saying that as most of them haven't chosen to be that way)we see at work and outside don't have problems moving around. Mind you their number decrease drastically after 60.. My friend is just over 60 yet she is one of the hardest workers we have..and she works standing up all day long.

Well if westerners eat only rice and noddles with all the vegetables and fish, like the japanese it would not be a weight problem. But if you eat japanese food and a Cheesecake afterwards then the carbs are way too much. Asians have the same problems when they live in a western country where their Diabetes rates are actually double compare to their country is non-existance. So if you only eat japanese food, it would be fine. Also they eat less and walk more.
Soy is a weak goitrogen and unless you have a goiter you should be fine. Everything in moderation

Not all Japanese food is healthy or low calorie. As someone said above, eat enough tempura, gyuudon, yakisoba ramen and yakiniku and you will put on weight. All of these foods are very high calorie/ high fat. It is wrong to say that Western food=bad and Japanese food=good, but people seem to totally overlook the high fat/ calorie Japanese foods.

Every culture has fattening, unhealthy food. It all boils down to the portion. Japanese people eat tempura, in moderation, eg one small bowl per meal. Americans, on the other hand, eat pizza, pizza and pizza. I've read this TIME article comparing the typical American diet to the typical Japanese one. The Japanese family consumed a few packets of chips per week, while the American's exclusively consisted of coke, chips, pizza and spaghetti.

People are overlooking fattening Japanese food ecause they play a less significant role in the Japanese people's lives. In that sense, of course Western diet = bad and Japanese diet = good.

In my experience the foods I mentioned are pretty common dishes here. Also I shouldn't even be talking about the "Western diet" because there is no such thing. People eat very different food in different Western countries- think Italian, Swedish, British, French food- all quite different and none inherently bad.

If we are talking about the typical American diet we should call it that and not put all Western food in the same basket. Even in the States there is plenty of healthy food available, it's just that many people choose not to eat it.