I know being over weight is Highly unacceptable in japan and is looked down on in japan. I am over weight just coming from my home life where I really didn't have access to a gym or anything, or have my own choice of what to eat. But now that I am going off to college I am planning on eating right and working out. I plan to loose most of if not all my weight before I go. Can anyone tell me more about how the Japanese view weight?

Hi Mizu

I don't know a whole bunch about the subject in particular, i studied exercise and physiology but when it comes to cross cultures its a little harder to say without being in the country in particular for a certain amount of time. From what i know, since Japanese people in general are quite slim due to their diet and they frequently get some sort of exercise (iv even seen the elderly doing proper gardening and also cycling). But it's also noted that the overweight population of Japan is beginning to rise (it's small percentage but its there), the Government have taken note regarding this and actively promote some exercise time during work etc.

I would recommend checking a youtube user called 'ChemistinJapan'. He's someone who has been to Japan frequently and possibly going to live there and is also overweight. He does a video about being overweight in Japan and gives his more personal opinion regarding it.

Thanks I'll check that out

In my opinion, it takes GREAT effort to get fat in Japan. The culture, lifestyle, and overall diet essentially makes you shed pounds without you even realizing it.

In order to be overweight, you would seriously have to down buckets of ice cream, eat over dozens of bigmacs everyday, and chug bottles of cooking oil for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Am I exaggerating? Only a bit. Do some people get fat anyway? Sure, but it's only a small minority.

If you want to find out a Japanese person's reaction to being overweight, just think of it like this: If I told you that I just ran a 20 mile marathon and gained 10 pounds, what would your reaction be? Probably be somewhere along the lines of "WTF how did that happen? There must be something seriously wrong with you." If you're a foreign visitor, I'm sure they'll be more polite about it. But if you're really obese, then expect a lot of WTF reactions and maybe even some teasing from the older folks.

Na I am not obese. you can see a pic of me as my icon I am over weight but not a huge amount. and I plan on being down to size by the time I go. and I am about
6'0 so I will still tower over them haha

Don't sweat it. Unless you have a car, you'll be walking everywhere in Japan (great way to see the sights) and with the smaller/healthier food portions, you'll drop the weight pretty easily. I spent a year teaching English and easily went from a slightly muscular 200lbs to 180lbs (still muscular by Japanese standards). In fact, most of the guys I worked with lost weight, but strangely most of the girls gained weight. At 6'0", unless you drop down to 160, or so, you'll still be considered big in Japan. Some of the young guys are thinner than their girlfriends