Why "the heart stopped" doesn't mean a heart attack in Japanese

One Japanese phrase I see consistently misunderstood in Western media is 心臓が停止, which is often translated as "the heart stopped." When this appears in Japanese news reports following a death, English-language coverage frequently jumps to the conclusion that the person died of a heart attack. In most cases, that's simply not what the phrase means.

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In Japanese media, 心臓が停止 is more of a descriptive status, not a medical diagnosis. It's commonly used by police or hospitals to indicate that someone was found unresponsive or pronounced dead, especially when the cause of death has not yet been determined. It doesn't explain why the heart stopped, only that it did.

This is an important distinction because medically speaking, every death involves cardiac arrest. The underlying cause could be trauma, drowning, hypothermia, heatstroke, asphyxiation, or something still under investigation. If a heart attack is suspected, Japanese reports usually specify it clearly with terms like 心筋梗塞.

Japanese-speaking audiences generally understand this nuance, but when the phrase is translated too literally, English readers tend to infer a specific cause that hasn't been confirmed. That can lead to misleading headlines and unnecessary speculation, especially in reports involving accidents, sports, or extreme weather. I saw it happening after the deaths of two Aussies in ski-related incidents here this week, where the online comments on news sources back home were getting their tin foil hats on...assuming these "heart attacks" were because of COVID jabs and other conspiracy theories.

Anyway, just thought I would clear that up for anyone who might be new to Japan, because it was also confusing to me when I would first read that phrase!