History Main / ItCantBeHelped

* The concept of gaman is central to the musical ''Theatre/{{Allegiance}}'' starring Creator/GeorgeTakei and loosely based on his own experiences in an internment camp during world War ii. The Japanese inmates initially turn to gaman to help them survive the camps, but the concept is also deconstructed as some younger inmates try to take whatever agency and power they can get and even rebel against the camps guards.

->''"It's very regrettable that nuclear bombs were dropped and I feel sorry for the citizens of Hiroshima but it couldn't be helped because that happened in wartime."''

* In the stage production of ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'', there was a skit about [[Series/KamenRiderFaiz Faiz]], [[Series/KamenRiderKuuga Kuuga]], [[Series/KamenRiderRyuki Ryuki]], [[Series/KamenRiderKabuto Kabuto]], [[Series/KamenRiderDecade Decade, and Diend]] being hungry and wanting to get a bite to eat. Decade argues with the other Riders about how there's no time, but Faiz calls in a reservation at [[Series/KamenRiderKiva IXA's]] Italian restaurant anyway. Decade just sighs, says, "It can't be helped", and goes along. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoUa-FFmixg Hilarity ensues]].

* Used a lot in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02''.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* A phrase often quoted by Western reporters who visited the afflicted area after the Touhoku Earthquake of 2011. Along with ''gaman'', it was used to describe the lives of the disaster victims after the earthquake and tsunami, mostly on how they coped with the grief, the anxiety, freezing weather, and uncomfortable living circumstances. Observers picked up on particularly because of the stark difference of how the victims reacted to the disaster compared to the more unfortunate victims of Haiti and Hurricane Katrina.
* As already explained, Mexicans has their own version of this, and unlike the Japanese, this is ''not'' portrayed as a good thing. Due to an unholy combination of ValuesDissonance (internal and external), CulturalCringe, CulturalPosturing, many problems with crime and corruption in many parts of the Mexican society and [[SelfDeprecation fatalism taken to the extreme]], Mexicans are normally taught to tolerate many bad things that can befall them, but when the Mexicans decide they have had ''enough'' of tolerating too much crap, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Iguala_mass_kidnapping the results are NOT pretty]]
* In ''The Alt-Right Playbook'' Ian Danskin suggests this is a core belief of conservatives; they're in total agreement with the left on societal ills (racism, school-shootings, etc.) but they take the position that these things can't be prevented - only ''punished.''
[[/folder]]

* ''[[LightNovel/{{Sukisho}} Suki na Mono wa Suki Dakara Shouganai]]'', an incredibly melodramatic BoysLove manga, translated as "I Love Who I Love, So It Can't Be Helped''.

* Comes up darkly in ''LightNovel/FateZero'': This is what Noritaka Emiya has to say [[spoiler: after his experiments have turned the village he was staying in into inhuman monsters and leading to their annihilation by the Church and Magus Association, his son's best friend/first love Shirley being the first.]] He has to burn the evidence (his research), and move somewhere else to start again (with likely the same results), and this is all he has to say. [[spoiler: Kiritsugu [[SelfMadeOrphan kills him]] [[StartOfDarkness for this.]]]]

* Averted with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Mountain_Fair_Play_Committee Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee]], a group that formed to resist the draft of Japanese Americans in concentration camps, whose motto was "No shikata ga nai". They were initially viewed as traitors and cowards by their community, partially due to the prevalence of this attitude, but later generations, especially after the civil rights movement, saw their resistance as heroic and justified.
* Also averted like hell in the Middle Eastern cultures as well, both in Israel and Arab countries as well, and for good reasons: In the Israeli case, centuries of Jews being systematically exterminated by many powerful empires, especially during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, has caused Israelis to not quickly surrender or tolerate attitudes that could destroy them, no matter any other options available for them. The same goes for Arabs, as they are aware of this trope, but they normally refuse to accept it, thank to a mix of national pride, self-preservation and cultural reasons. This is one of the reasons why many of the conflicts that have occurred in that region of the world have lasted for decades, and without any of the parties deciding to seek a negotiated solution other than the destruction of the opponent, even if the conflict is very detrimental to all parties involved.

* Also averted like hell in the Middle Eastern cultures as well, both in Israel and Arab countries as well, and for good reasons: In the Israeli case, centuries of Jews being systematically exterminated by many powerful empires, especially during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, has caused Israelis to not quickly surrender or tolerate attitudes that could destroy them, no matter any other options available for them. The same goes for Arabs, but raised UpToEleven, as they are aware of this trope, but they normally refuse to accept it, thank to a mix of national pride, self-preservation and cultural reasons. This is one of the reasons why many of the conflicts that have occurred in that region of the world have lasted for decades, and without any of the parties deciding to seek a negotiated solution other than the destruction of the opponent, even if the conflict is very detrimental to all parties involved.

* A phrase often quoted by Western reporters who visited the afflicted area after the Touhoku Earthquake of 2011. Along with ''gaman'', it was used to describe the lives of the disaster victims after the earthquake and tsunami, mostly on how they coped with the grief, the anxiety, freezing weather, and uncomfortable living circumstances. Was picked up on particularly because of the stark difference of how the victims reacted to the disaster compared to the more unfortunate victims of Haiti and Hurricane Katrina.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Fan Works ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Kim Stanley Robinson's ''Literature/RedMars'' mentions "shikata ga nai" being introduced to the initial colonists en route to Mars by their sole Japanese member. [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness Even in the future, space flight is a long, slow endeavor]], so with a lot of things they can't help, the phrase quickly enters everyday usage.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Music ]]

[[folder: Theater ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: WebOriginal ]]

[[folder: WesternAnimation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Averted with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Mountain_Fair_Play_Committee Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee]], a group that formed to resist the draft of Japanese Americans in concentration camps, whose motto was "No shikata ga nai". They were initially viewed as traitors and cowards by their community, partially due to the prevalence of this attitude, but [[SocietyMarchesOn later generations, especially after the civil rights movement,]] saw their resistance as heroic and justified.

* Examined and defied in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}''. As a game that takes a harsh look at Japanese society, the game criticizes the mindset as not showing forbearance, but letting horrible people get away with horrible things if you choose to look the other way. [[spoiler:This is exemplified by the entire city of Tokyo representing the sin of Sloth. After the Phantom Thieves take down CorruptPolitician Masayoshi Shido, they're shocked to see the people of Tokyo are ''still'' going to vote for him for Prime Minister of Japan, because "society would rather be told what to do than think for themselves." It takes stealing the collective treasure of the entire population as well as defeating the puppet master behind it all before the people start to wake up.]]
* "Song of Love", the theme tune to the ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' series, has this as its premise: It's all about how the Pikmin go through Hell for their leader, Olimar, yet despite the fact that it's very likely they'll die ignobly, ''"We don't ask that you love us."'' The song's single actually ''outsold the game itself'' because of how it resonated with the {{Salaryman}} public.
* In ''[[VideoGame/GanbareGoemon Goemon's Great Adventure]]'', this is the party's reaction to Goemon being forced into doing a certain sidequest... though it only pops up if you're playing with a friend.
* Used frequently in the Japanese versions of the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' games, often spoken by a witness before they finally confess information they were hiding.
* The [[PerpetualBeta 2014 release]] of ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' introduced a more in-depth conversation system with {{NPC}}s/dwarfs reacting to news based on how it makes them feel. The neutral, apathetic response of "It was inevitable" is by far the common reaction; in crowded areas where villagers pass information among themselves it's not uncommon to see multiple "It was inevitable" statements in the time it takes to move ''one'' square. The phrase has already been adopted by the community via MemeticMutation, and serves as a sort of corollary to the game's "official" slogan. After all, in Dwarf Fortress losing was not only fun, it was inevitable.
* The original ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' has Barry say this verbatim while Jill is lamenting the sudden disappearance of their captain, Wesker. The fact that the situation theoretically ''can'' be helped makes it a picture-perfect example of the "gaman" attitude; he's not saying there's nothing they can do, he's just telling Jill not to fret about it.