Shikata ga nai (仕方がない), pronounced [ɕi̥kata ɡa naꜜi], is a Japanese language phrase meaning "it cannot be helped" or "nothing can be done about it". An alternative phrase with a similar meaning is Shō ga nai (しょうがない), pronounced [ɕoː ɡa naꜜi].

It has been used to describe the ability of the Japanese people to maintain dignity in the face of an unavoidable tragedy or injustice, particularly when the circumstances are beyond their control, somewhat similar to "c'est la vie" in French, "no hay remedio" in Spanish, or "it is what it is" in English. Historically, it has been applied to situations which masses of Japanese people as a whole have been made to endure during World War II, including the Allied occupation of Japan and the internment of Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians.

In Asian American Women: The "Frontiers" Reader, author Debbie Storrs states:

The Japanese phrase shikata ga nai, or "it can't be helped," indicates cultural norms over which one has little control... This notion of suffering in part stems from shikata ga nai: failing to follow cultural norms and social conventions led to a life of little choice but endurance of suffering.

The phrase also can have negative connotations, as some may perceive the lack of reaction to adversity as complacence, both to social and political forces. In a Business Week article, a Western businessman says of Japanese people:

He encourages Japanese not to succumb to the shikata ga nai mentality but to get angry and start behaving like citizens. 'Japanese people listen to me because I'm always pushing what the possibilities are and how things can change... to ensure positive economic and political prospects...'

The phrase appears as an important theme in a range of books relating to major events in the history of the Japanese people. Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's Farewell to Manzanar devoted a chapter to the concept to explain why the Japanese Americans interned in the US during World War II did not put up more of a struggle against the restrictive conditions and policies put upon them. The historical manga Barefoot Gen shows many of the citizens in Hiroshima using the phrase "Shikata ga nai" to explain why they accept the military rule, and the acceptance of the below-poverty conditions that cause many of their citizens to starve. Similarly, John Hersey's Hiroshima applies the phrase after efforts to assist fatally injured hibakusha ceased.

James Clavell used the phrase in his novel Shōgun. The Japanese characters explain it to the westerner who comes to see its wisdom.