I’m going to write about one of famous styles of exercise called “radio exercise”( rajio taisou: ラジオ体操) in Japan.
Now, please watch this video( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS92XkVKM0Q) from you-tube which shows three women who are demonstrating “radio exercise”.
It is famous exercise which is known and enjoyed by many Japanese citizens. It has been shown on TV or the radio for a long time, so most Japanese people of all generations are familiar with this exercise, and this background music accompanied by the exercise. They even know the exact order of each movement.
Why the exercise is so popular in Japan? It is basically devised by an insurance company(Kanpo Insurance Company) as an advertising campaign for the improvement of people’s health. After that, it began to be broadcasted on the radio. Now, it is shown four times a day on the radio and twice a day on TV.
Radio exercise usually consists of two parts; first exercise(第一体操) and second exercise(第二体操). However, first exercise is more popular than second one, so people often do only the first one. It is generally said that the first exercise is moderate and followed by the music at a normal tempo. In contrast, the second one is a little bit hard and steps up the tempo.
In Japan, people have a lot of opportunities to take radio exercise not only through radio or TV show but also through radio exercise meetings held at your community. Radio exercise meetings are often held as a part of activities of Kodomokai( 子ども会: association of children living the same area). As you watched in the film, “Natsuyasumi” of Japan Lab, most elementary school students participate in those meetings held at parks, community centers or some other public places near their house in summer vacation. Some elementary schools tell students to participate in the meetings as summer homework and give students check cards to be put stamps on it every time the students attend the meetings. Those cards are usually supposed to submit to teachers.
But today’s radio exercise meeting is changing now. There are few people who participate in the meeting, so the number of the meetings is surely decreasing. The declining birth rate is one of the causes of the change. Because of the declining birth rate, Kodomokai is not working. It becomes difficult for the radio exercise meetings to take place.
Picture of morning assembly of a company: http://www.kk-iwatagumi.co.jp/kaisya/chourei.html
Now, please watch this video( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS92XkVKM0Q) from you-tube which shows three women who are demonstrating “radio exercise”.
It is famous exercise which is known and enjoyed by many Japanese citizens. It has been shown on TV or the radio for a long time, so most Japanese people of all generations are familiar with this exercise, and this background music accompanied by the exercise. They even know the exact order of each movement.
Why the exercise is so popular in Japan? It is basically devised by an insurance company(Kanpo Insurance Company) as an advertising campaign for the improvement of people’s health. After that, it began to be broadcasted on the radio. Now, it is shown four times a day on the radio and twice a day on TV.
Radio exercise usually consists of two parts; first exercise(第一体操) and second exercise(第二体操). However, first exercise is more popular than second one, so people often do only the first one. It is generally said that the first exercise is moderate and followed by the music at a normal tempo. In contrast, the second one is a little bit hard and steps up the tempo.
In Japan, people have a lot of opportunities to take radio exercise not only through radio or TV show but also through radio exercise meetings held at your community. Radio exercise meetings are often held as a part of activities of Kodomokai( 子ども会: association of children living the same area). As you watched in the film, “Natsuyasumi” of Japan Lab, most elementary school students participate in those meetings held at parks, community centers or some other public places near their house in summer vacation. Some elementary schools tell students to participate in the meetings as summer homework and give students check cards to be put stamps on it every time the students attend the meetings. Those cards are usually supposed to submit to teachers.
But today’s radio exercise meeting is changing now. There are few people who participate in the meeting, so the number of the meetings is surely decreasing. The declining birth rate is one of the causes of the change. Because of the declining birth rate, Kodomokai is not working. It becomes difficult for the radio exercise meetings to take place.
Picture of morning assembly of a company: http://www.kk-iwatagumi.co.jp/kaisya/chourei.html
Picture of the opening ceremony of athletic meet in jounior high school: http://www.tym.ed.jp/sc276/2001/undoukai01/undoukai.htmRadio exercise is so common that it is often carried out in various places and situations such as morning assembly of companies(first picture of the above) or opening ceremony of athletic meet at schools( second picture of the above). Radio exercise is of course one of good warm-ups, so it is really suitable to do at the beginning of athletic meets. Moreover, radio exercise is considered to be very good to activate people’s brain, to wake people up, or for a change of air. That’s why some companies let the workers do radio exercise every day in the morning before they start to work on something. There is also a positive effect on people of doing radio exercise. It can enhance people’s concentration, so it might prompt employees to devote their energies to their work. I have heard that there is a university teacher who gives students time to do radio exercise during a class. The teacher tried to make students refresh their mind and enable them to maintain their concentration during the 90 minutes class.
1 件のコメント:
This is an interesting subject, especially since we saw it in the "Natsu Yasumi" film in class.
When did the insurance company develop it? It almost has a military feel to it, don't you think?
Why not embed the YouTube video in your post? And where are your own original photos?
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