Another thing I noticed in Japan was how many elderly people were exercising. Every morning in the park, there would be circles of elderly people doing exercises. Whenever I hiked a mountain, about half of the people I saw were elderly. They would go slowly and steadily and eventually make it to the top. I have also often seen elderly people on bikes, carrying their groceries home in their bike baskets. In contrast, in America, I would sometimes see elderly people exercising, but not to the same degree as I saw them here. What about Japanese culture makes people value exercise so much? It turns out that the answer lies in the 1940s. After being defeated in World War II, many Japanese people were unhappy. Many of their family and friends had been killed, and their cities were in ruins. However, it was important for everyone to come together in order to rebuild the country. Therefore, every morning the Japanese government would play exercise music on the radio, called rajio taisou. Everyone would gather together and do exercise to the music. This raised everyone’s spirits, built a sense of community and prepared them for the hard day of work ahead. That generation is now the elderly generation that I see on hikes and bikes.
