[bobthepanda]

Going to the gym regularly is a strictly American thing. Americans are obsessed with gym culture in a way that other countries generally aren't.

Most exercise in Japan takes the form of constant walking. You can walk from most homes to stores and restaurants, from many homes to train stations, from many workplaces to train stations, etc. For many Americans, the most walking they do is the walk from the door to the car.

It's substantially easier to build up a lot of time exercising by just walking as part of the things you do in daily life; a dedicated workout is generally only about 45-90 minutes. And the people going to the gym in Japan are also participating in all that walking, generally.

[folkrav]

With how car-centric North America is, there isn’t much to walk to for a lot of people. Things are just very far from each other. I’d walk places a whole lot more if I had things at a reasonable walking distance, I used to do it all the time when I didn’t have kids and lived closer to the city. Back then, I sold my car less than a month after moving there, and relied on car sharing services for the odd trip outside of town.

Nowadays, I’m in a medium-sized agricultural town in Canada, not far outside the larger metropolitan area where half the province lives. Realistically, at a walking distance, I have a convenience store, a drugstore, and a small co-op hardware store. The closest grocery store is at least a 30 minute walk. Both my sons’ school and daycare, the closest market or shops I’d go at, they are all 4+ away.

[serf]

Americans , by the actual numbers of participation, don't actually go to the gym that much -- the ones that do are loud and have a lot of overlap with social media participation.

is radio taiso still a thing? Employee mandated exercise would go over like a lead balloon here.

[bobthepanda]

We have employee mandated exercise in the construction industry in the US, because employers would rather you stretch at the beginning of the day than pay out worker’s comp.

[ivape]

It’s because America is built on insecurity. You never know if you’re rich enough, smart enough, skinny enough, pretty enough …

I wonder what anyone in Japan can say of the state of vanity over there. Is it relegated to an age ranges or genders, or is it beginning to pollute the culture entirely like in America?

My opinion is that Japan’s primary sin is pride and not necessarily vanity.

[bobthepanda]

There is certainly vanity in Japan, it just looks different in terms of what they prize and how it manifests in cultural spheres like media. https://medium.com/japonica-publication/japans-toxic-beauty-...

[ivape]

Psychotic as usual. Oh well, what are you gonna do.