It might not make the cut for Olympians at Tokyo 2020, but each day in Japan's parks, schools and offices millions perform the country's most popular stretching routine: radio taiso
Image: Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP
The three-minute drills, usually done to piano music with encouraging shouts of "one, two, three, four!" in Japanese, are broadcast several times a day on public radio and television.
And while workout videos and podcasts soared in popularity worldwide during virus lockdowns, Japan's taiso tradition dates back nearly 100 years—even surviving a post-war ban by the Americans, who deemed the group activity too militaristic.
Radio taiso's 13 bending, reaching and twisting moves are familiar to almost everyone in the country, which is preparing to host the postponed Tokyo Olympics this summer under strict anti-virus rules.
"First, lift your arms and stretch your body... next, rotate your arms," the presenter says as the old-fashioned music plays.
"Now forward bend softly, with rhythmic bounces three times. And then bend backwards."