Listen, bend and stretch: how Japan fell in love with exercise on the radio
Millions join in a mass rajio taisō workout broadcast daily for nearly 70 years
by Justin McCurry
Jul 20, 2019
3 minutes
“One, two, three, four … five, six, seven, eight …” That is the cue for half a dozen people braving a humid morning at Kamezuka park in Tokyo to bend, stretch, jump, and run on the spot. The group’s personal trainer is a portable radio perched on the top of a children’s slide. A male voice’s simple instructions, issued to a jaunty piano accompaniment, has become a staple of daily life in Japan since the broadcasts, known as (radio calisthenics), first hit the airwaves
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