“Shō ga nai yo ne”: Interembodied experiences of menstrual pain among young Japanese women

In Japan, the fact that pain and discomfort are expected aspects of menstrual experiences is expressed in common euphemisms such as “my stomach hurts” and “I don't feel well.” As one young woman put it, “Shō ga nai yo ne [there really isn't anything you can do about it, is there?].” Using evidence from ethnographic interviews conducting in 2017–2018 with twenty-three female university students in the Tokyo area, I argue that in contemporary Japan, there is a strong social imperative to conceal signs of menstruation, including the suffering caused by menstrual cramps. The self-discipline required to meet this expectation shapes women's embodied experiences of menstruation. They must choose their words and actions carefully depending on who is around them. When recounting grade school and current-day menstrual woes, interviewees consistently described their menstrual pain in relation to others. They fretted over whether their menstrual status would be “discovered” by male peers or teachers, and they avoided the male-dominated medical profession even when suffering from severe pain or irregular menstrual cycles. On the other hand, female classmates and friends could swap pain relief tips and bond over shared experiences of menstrual cramps. Mothers were also a reliable source of empathy and knowledge, who often passed down menstruation-concealing and pain-relieving techniques from one generation to the next. Lived experiences of menstrual pain are thus always shaped by processes of interembodiment, “the sharing of embodied experiences across and among biological bodies” (Bunkley, 2022, 258).