Shikata ga nai

Shikata ga nai (仕方がない), pronounced [ɕi̥kata ɡa naꜜi], is a Japanese language phrase meaning "it cannot be helped" or "nothing can be done about it".

It has been used to describe the ability of the Japanese people to maintain dignity in the face of an unavoidable tragedy or injustice, particularly when the circumstances are beyond their control, somewhat similar to "c'est la vie" in French or "it is what it is" in English.

In Asian American Women: The "Frontiers" Reader, author Debbie Storrs states: The Japanese phrase shikata ga nai, or "it can't be helped," indicates cultural norms over which one has little control...

Similarly, John Hersey's Hiroshima applies the phrase after efforts to assist fatally injured hibakusha ceased.

The phrase is also introduced or explained by Japanese or Japanese-American characters in books such as David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars.

In the Red Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson, the phrase becomes popular among Martian settlers of all nationalities when dealing with the many hardships of living on a dead planet.