Every morning, in schoolyards and public parks, millions of Japanese people bend and stretch following directions recorded over a piano track—a nearly century-old fitness routine known as rajio taisō. These Japanese calisthenics date back to 1927, when the Ministry of Posts and Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, teamed up to promote national health exercises on the radio. According to the Japanese government, over 25 million people still participate in the three-minute-long choreography at least twice a week, enjoying the communal exercises This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-six Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 47 Alice Sheppard On dance as a channel to commune with the body—even when it hurts. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Dr. Woo Meet the tattoo artist who's inked LA. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Walt Odets The author and clinical psychologist on why self-acceptance is the key to a gay man's well-being. Arts & Culture Fashion Issue 47 A Picture of Health Xiaopeng Yuan photographs the world’s weirdest wellness cures. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Chani Nicholas and Sonya Passi Inside the astrology company on a mission to prove workplace well-being is more than a corporate tagline. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Julia Bainbridge On the life-enhancing potential of not drinking alcohol.
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