Meaning of 腹八分目 (hara hachi bun me) and 分 (bun) in Japanese

Definition

腹八分目 literally means “belly/stomach 80%” and indicates the act of eating food until you feel 八分 (80%) full, not 十分 (full/100%).

* 十分 (じゅうぶん) also means “enough”, and 十二分 (じゅうにぶん), which literally means “120%”, means “more than enough/sufficient”, 

Usage

In Japan, it is widely believed that 腹八分目 is good for your health, which is reflected in the saying, “腹八分目に医者(いしゃ)いらず” meaning “You don’t need a doctor by exercising 腹八分目”. Therefore, lots of people try to stop eating when their stomach feels 80 % full, but it is one of the things that is easy to say but hard to do.

Meaning of 分 (ぶ/ぶん) in Japanese

As in 腹八分目, the word “分 (ぶ or ぶん)” means “10%”, e.g. “五分咲きの桜” means “cherry blossoms in 50％ bloom”. However, confusingly enough, 分 can also mean “1%”, especially when it is used with another unit 割 (わり) meaning “10%” and/or 厘 (りん) meaning “0.1%”. These units are often used to describe sports stats, especially a batting average in baseball (e.g. ３割５分２厘 means “0.352”). And as you may already know, 分 also means “minute” and reads “ふん” or “ぷん” in this case, e.g. ２分 (にふん) and ３分 (さんぷん) mean “2 minutes” and “3 minutes”, respectively.

Example

腹八分目の食事(しょくじ)を心(こころ)がけよう
Keep it in mind to eat until you feel 80% full.

Related Words

Synonym

食(た)べすぎない: do not eat too much

Antonym

暴飲暴食 (ぼういん ぼうしょく) “eat and drink recklessly”

牛飲馬食 (ぎゅういんばしょく) “drink like a cow and eat like a horse”