Asking Information
 

Greetings and Thank you for accepting me to your forum.
I wish to travel to Japan one day and, if I am allowed, live and work there.
I need to ask a question. I am very shy and I do not make friends easily. I also am a fat person. Generally people find fat people repulsive. I have come across this attitude, not only where I come from but also from people from other countries. Please, if I may ask, what do Japanese men think about fat women? Do they also find them repulsive?
Thank you for this chance to ask.
Kind Regards form Athens, Greece, SE Europe.:)

Hi Marikogr and welcome to the forum.

Hmm when you say fat it all depends on what type of guy your refering to, the shallow, superficial guy would always say they are repulsed, majority of guys probly do not mind (I know I do not) talking to just about anyone no matter what they look like. Then there are those who find large women attractive.

I believe you will find all the above guys in Japan and it will probly be similar to your home country (then again I could be very wrong, please someone correct me if I am).

One benefit of living in Japan is you will see the excess pounds fall off if you stick with traditional Japanese meals, they tend to be very healthy compared to the western processed foods we eat daily.

Well best of luck in your quest to be Gaijin and if you ever need anyone to talk to just pm me.

I did notice that Japanese people have a very different view of what weight they should be to that of Westerners... flicking tv channels there were plenty of ads for weight loss programs where the 'before' picture is more like the 'after' picture in ads here ("dropped from 49kg to 40kg, yay!"); a woman we met mentioned she was on a diet and needed to lose weight despite being tiny enough for childrens' clothes here; almost every girl you see is incredibly skinny. I'm not sure how the men feel about it, but the women at least seemed to me to be quite obsessed with weight loss and being skinny.

On the other hand I got the impression that whatever their opinion of you, in general they will never say something rude to your face - the culture is very polite.

Obesity is much less common than in the West, and is seen as a sign of mental weakness. There is little or no belief in people being "naturally obese" or it being "out of their control" and traditional Japanse food is more healthy and less fatty than American food (I am not sure about food in Greece).

Well, it really depends more on the person.
Some people well care and others won't.

Really doesn't matter though, you are who you are.
Just have a good time and don't think about all that bull.



I heard they fry just about anything beef or chicken making it just as bad if not worse.
Or maybe it's more of an Okinawa thing?

Fried? Of course tempura and tonkatsu is deep-fried, but those aren't everyday staples.

Grilling is more common than frying, fish is more common than beef, rice is more common than bread and vegetables are more common than cheese. I think you would have a hard time arguing a typical traditional Japanese diet is less healthy than a typical American diet.

Like I said maybe it's just an Okinawa thing.
I was told their diets were terrible.

I am not as familiar with the Okinawa diet, but it is very different from the "mainland" Japanese.

I dunno... Kara'age and tonkatsu were certainly staple foods for me in Japan... :)

Though I did have plenty of yakiniku and other things as well.

And who told you that?

Okinawans have the longest life expectancy in Japan and their food is believed to be the sources of their youth.

So please make sure that you know what you are talking about.

Maybe what you meant to say was, Okinawa diet contains unique ingredients which may or may not be viewed as disgusting.

For example, big ear, legs, and etc...

Thank you very much. Your answer really is helpfull. Food in Greece is traditionally Mediterranean and consists of, vegetables, fruit, olive oil, fish, rice & pasta, beens,lentils & legumes, meat, eggs & milk-dairy products. In Europe it is considered to be healthy food. It is not processed food or fast food. We cook a lot and we eat also fresh and raw. But in my family (origin from Thrace) all females are big. My strusture is like that. Not exactly fat, but more solid & strong.
Thank you all for your valuable information.
Kind Regards from Athens, Greece

markogr, you said "fat" in your first post, which to me is different from "solid and strong".

Goodevening. Indeed I said fat because big women like me look fat to others. They call me "fat" rather than big. May be it is more accurate to say I am overweight, very heavy.
Thank you for indicating the difference to me.
Kind Regards
Marika from Greece

I don't know about the female perspective, but I can tell you as a male that my pot belly was a source of amusement for all of my girlfriend's female friends when I first visited Japan last year. Every last one of her female friends upon meeting me made some comment about (or rubbed like a Buddah's Belly) my stomach, although not in an intentionally hurtful way. They are just blunt and say whatever comes to mind, like "Wow! It's so big!". LOL. I came to expect it and didn't take any offense to it. While I do see obese people in Japan, the percentages are drastically lower than back home in the U.S. Most guys here in my age range would be considered skinny by U.S. standards. However, I've never heard guys talk about weight here. Only females.

I can tell you that since moving here I've lost about 15kg. I have not been doing any intentional exercising. The weight just comes off from having to walk 15 minutes each way, to and from the train station every day. Since I don't have a car, I have to walk everywhere and that burns calories. I also eat smaller portions since that's how food is served here. So that's less calories going into my body.