Translation guide
The practice of eating the flesh of one's own species. In Japanese, this is expressed through specific nouns and related terms, with distinctions between literal cannibalism and metaphorical or idiomatic uses.
Referring to the actual act of eating human flesh or the flesh of one's own kind.
Using 'cannibalism' to describe self-destructive internal competition or consumption within a system.
カニバリズム is a modern loanword and sounds neutral or academic. 人食い is more visceral and common in everyday speech or fiction. 食人 is formal and often appears in written historical accounts. For most general purposes, カニバリズム is safe, but 人食い is more vivid.
カニバリズムはタブーとされている。
Cannibalism is considered taboo.
あの映画には人食いシーンがある。
That movie has a cannibalism scene.
While 共食い is the standard metaphor, directly translating 'cannibalize' as カニバライズする is not common. Use 共食いする or the noun カニバリゼーション instead.
The most direct loanword from English, widely understood in modern contexts, especially in news or academic discussions.
その部族はカニバリズムの習慣があった。
That tribe had a custom of cannibalism.
Literally 'human eating'. A common, slightly more colloquial term for cannibalism, often used in folklore or horror contexts.
人食い人種の伝説は世界中にある。
Legends of cannibal tribes exist all over the world.
A more formal or literary term for cannibalism, often used in historical or anthropological contexts.
食人の風習は過去のものだ。
The custom of cannibalism is a thing of the past.
Literally 'mutual eating'. Used for animals eating their own kind, or metaphorically for destructive competition within a group. Can also refer to human cannibalism in extreme situations.
飢餓で共食いが起こった。
Cannibalism occurred due to starvation.
The standard term for metaphorical cannibalism, such as companies in the same group competing against each other.
この新製品は既存の製品と共食いする可能性がある。
This new product might cannibalize our existing products.
A business term derived from English 'cannibalization', used in marketing and economics.
市場のカニバリゼーションを避ける戦略が必要だ。
We need a strategy to avoid market cannibalization.