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Would You Wake Up To This Morning Radio Show? Millions Do In Japan
What do you listen to on the radio in the morning? John Moore? Radio One? CHFI? Indie 88.1?
None of them are anything like one of the top morning "shows" in Japan. It's called "Radio Taiso" and millions of people not only listen to it, they follow its every move. That's because the show is all about getting people to exercise.
The entire show is about performing calisthenic-like fitness moves in the morning and it's incredible to think how many actually use it to do just that. To make it even more bizarre, the show is only 10 minutes long and requires no equipment.
Yet millions take part every day "in parks, workplaces, schools — and at home.
"Radio Taiso has an almost 100-year history, formally introduced in 1928 and coinciding with the enthronement of Emperor Hirohito. The tradition endures because the exercises are suitable for all ages and capabilities, and easily accessible.
We’re talking about basic exercise movements: reach to the sky to limber up, twist at the torso, bend at the hips, swing the arms and get the shoulders loose, or jump or run in place."
"Exercise Radio," as it's called in English, is also available on YouTube if you want to hear what this sounds like. Or maybe to get you off the couch.
Somehow, I just can't picture John Moore taking part in this. It would definitely be a real "stretch!"
Japan awakens to Radio Taiso exercise tradition. One face of the country’s longevity
- Paul Jeffries
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Re: Would You Wake Up To This Morning Radio Show? Millions Do In Japan
When I went to Regina Mundi school in Hamilton in the late 1970s, my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Lennox Gray, developed something called the "Health Hustle" that he broadcasted over the school's PA system before classes commenced.
Mr. Gray would play three songs in the morning (from a tape recorder sitting near the mic) and he would announce the names of various exercises we memorized during various points in the songs. The songs that got the most 'airplay' during those sessions were "Boogie Nights" by Heatwave, "Love Will Keep Us Together" by Captain & Tennille and "Easy" by The Commodores.
Aside from being a phys ed teacher, Mr. Gray, who hailed from Trinidad & Tobago, also enjoyed playing music. I remember one time when he and his steel drum band performed for us in the gym at our school. That was really cool, hearing this very unique type of music.
Unfortunately, I had lost touch with Mr. Gray shortly after graduating from elementary school in the early '80s, and was saddened to hear that he had passed away in 2013. He was a kind and gentle man.
PASSAGES: Lennox Gray remembered for the ‘Health Hustle’ - The Hamilton Spectator, June 9, 2013
PJ
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