Does しかたない imply disappointment?


From the context of the original Japanese text, is seems that しかたない does not
imply a negative feeling such as disappointment or dissatisfaction. Instead,
it seems to mean "That's just the way it is" without any negative
connotations.

However, all the English translations I have found, such as...

  * I can tolerate it
  * I can live with it
  * I can accept it
  * Oh well...

do imply some degree of negative feeling. (One translation is "I don't like
it, but I can live with it.")

The Wikipedia page <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikata_ga_nai> is
ambivalent about this question.

The context in which しかたない is being used is, for example:

  * I have a headache. 
  * Here is a tablet. It takes 10 minutes to have an effect. 
  * しかたない

In English, that feels like (possibly slight) disappointment, but apparently,
in Japanese, it does not.




しかたない _is_ a negative phrase, and it _does_ imply some dissatisfaction,
disappointment, etc. All the English translations you have found seem fine to
me. In your last example, the speaker clearly dislikes the fact that the
tablet takes 10 minutes to have an effect.

Etymologically, 仕方【しかた】 is "way (of doing something)" or "choice", and ない is
"there is no ～". So "nothing can be done" or "there is no (better) choice" is
the basic meaning.

