How to Read “The stomach is borrowed”
Hara wa karimono
Meaning of “The stomach is borrowed”
“The stomach is borrowed” means that a pregnant woman’s body belongs to her baby, not just to herself. She should not treat it carelessly or selfishly.
During pregnancy, a mother’s body is not hers alone. It is being used to nurture the baby growing inside her.
That’s why a mother should not prioritize her own desires or convenience. She should put the baby’s health and growth first in everything she does.
People use this proverb when a pregnant woman tries to do strenuous exercise or eat something unhealthy. They say it to remind her to be careful.
Pregnant women also use it to remind themselves to be responsible. The word “borrowed” creates a strong impression that you must handle something precious that has been temporarily entrusted to you.
Origin and Etymology
There is no clear record of when this proverb first appeared in written documents. However, the structure of the phrase itself is quite interesting.
“Hara” (stomach) refers to a pregnant woman’s belly. The expression “borrowed” carries a unique meaning here.
It seems contradictory at first. How can your own body be “borrowed”? But this paradox contains a deep philosophy.
During pregnancy, a new life grows inside the mother’s body. During this time, her body is not hers alone.
It is temporarily “lent out” for the baby inside. In other words, the mother is “borrowing” her own body from the baby. It’s a reversed way of thinking.
This expression reflects a traditional Japanese value system. It shows reverence for the gift of life and the weight of maternal responsibility.
Pregnant women should avoid alcohol and smoking, eat nutritious food, and not overwork themselves. This proverb expresses these behavioral guidelines through an easy-to-understand metaphor: “You must treat it carefully because it’s borrowed.”
Usage Examples
- Since you’re pregnant, remember that the stomach is borrowed and go to bed early tonight
- I want to drink alcohol, but the stomach is borrowed, so I’ll endure it for another six months
Universal Wisdom
The proverb “The stomach is borrowed” reveals a conflict between two human positions. One is individual freedom: “My body is my own.” The other is responsibility: “I must discipline myself for someone else.”
Pregnancy may be when these two positions appear most clearly. It’s your body, yet it’s not yours alone.
Our ancestors expressed this strange state beautifully with the word “borrowed.”
Humans naturally want to prioritize their own desires. We want to eat what we like and do what we want. That’s our natural state.
But humans also have the power to sacrifice themselves for those they love. They can suppress their own desires and take care of their bodies for a child they haven’t even met yet.
This behavior comes not from logic but from instinctive love.
This proverb has been passed down for generations because it’s more than just a warning to pregnant women. It expresses a fundamental form of human love.
Living for someone more precious than yourself. The proverb conveys both the nobility and difficulty of this in just six characters.
When people love someone, they have the resolve to treat even their own body as “borrowed.” That may be the beauty of human existence.
When AI Hears This
Looking at human digestive organs from a physics perspective reveals surprising facts. The vegetables and meat we eat are “ordered matter” with concentrated solar energy.
Plants convert disordered light into ordered sugar through photosynthesis. Animals eat that and create ordered protein. Food is a “lump of order” temporarily created against the universe’s flow toward disorder (entropy increase).
But the human stomach starts destroying this precious order the moment it receives it. Digestive enzymes cut molecules, intestinal bacteria ferment them, and finally everything converts to heat energy and waste—a “high entropy state.”
Calculations show humans process about 2000 kilocalories of energy per day. About 60% is discarded into space as body heat. The rest eventually becomes heat too.
In other words, the stomach is “a device that borrows order and returns disorder”—truly borrowed. We temporarily receive low-entropy food and convert it to high entropy under the pretext of life activities, then repay it to the universe.
From this perspective, living is the act of cooperating with the universe’s heat death. The stomach is borrowed because we are merely relay points in the universe’s great flow of entropy increase.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people the importance of “the resolve to use what’s yours for others sometimes.”
Modern society values “being yourself” and “individual freedom.” That’s wonderful, but sometimes “I decide for myself” becomes an excuse to avoid choices that carry responsibility.
Not just in pregnancy, we face daily choices between our own desires and responsibility to others. Using time for family, postponing your work for a junior colleague, accepting inconvenience for the environment.
In such moments, try thinking “Maybe my current self is borrowed.”
If you can think of your time, body, and abilities as things to “lend out” to someone sometimes, you might become a little kinder.
This isn’t sacrificing yourself. It’s choosing to gain greater joy. When people use themselves for someone else, they may experience true fulfillment for the first time.
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