Thanks to an anti-obesity law passed last year, Japanese salarymen across the nation are pulling up their shirts to have their guts measured... and if they're overweight, they face consequences.
If you're male and your waist is over 33.5 inches, you're considered fat. If you're female, the limit is 35.4 inches. Thanks to those burgers, you now have to attend mandatory counseling with a physician. For every grotesquely obese employee like yourself, your company gets hit by a fine; ergo, they strongly encourage you to lose weight with gifts of gym memberships and pedometers.
The goal of all this is to prevent Japan from experiencing an obesity epidemic like so many other industrialized nations. The theory is the less overweight people you have, the lower health care costs will be across the board. Although I think the waistline restrictions are a bit strict (how is a six foot tall foreigner supposed to have a 33-inch waist?), this seems like a good idea overall. America could certainly benefit from less junk in the trunk... but would such a system work here?
http://current.com/news/91443187_its-illegal-to-be-fat-in-japan.htm
I agree with the basic concept behind the law, but the blanket rule of measuring waists without taking into account height at all is moronic. At least use BMIs or something.
11 comments:
This is so interesting! Not only is the poster hilarious, it rather puts America to shame. How did you find out about this? にほんに いきました？
”ゆうびんきょく”は おもしろい ブログの titleですね。
It really is! にほにいきましだか。
おはよえ、ソンです。ノトルダムだいがくのがくせいです。どうぞよろしく。
Your posts pretty funny. Bunch of people in my class were talking about it. How come girls are allowed to have a waist size of 35.4 in, but guys only 33.5. thats weird.
おはよう ございます。アヤラです。どおぞよろしく。
I don't go to your college, but I'm at one of the colleges that is doing the blog project with you (more specifically, the University of Notre Dame).
I find this law very interesting. How did you find it? Do you know the processes it had to go through in order for it to be passed? Why do you think they aren't taking height into account?
Obesity is a horrible gateway disease that leads to heart problems. わたしは フェンシング(fencing)をします！Thats how I escape the obesity monster.
ぼくわ よく テニスを します。to escape the obesity monster :D これのブログは いいですね。It was really interesting.
はじめまして。 わたしは カバフグです。 わたしは ノトルダムのがくせいです。 どうぞ よろしく。 ：）
Anyways. Omgosh, I think this is the best blog post I've read so far. The funny thing is that Japan really doesn't need it, considering they're all ridiculously skinny. But I agree, they should take height into account.
Are all of you from Notre Dame? How did you find my blog? Why are you talking about my blog in class? This is so bizarre...
To answer questions:
1. A friend sent the link to this article tome. I assume he got it from Reddit.
2. The blog is called ゆうびんきょく because my name is Mailing, which, while not pronounced like it, looks like the verb "mailing." As in, "I'm mailing a letter."
はじめまして！リーブスです。どおぞよろしう！
I remember hearing about this awhile back and thinking that while it's a great law and that we could benefit from something like it, it's a tad overboard haha.
Also, I think your teacher and ours are colleagues and that's why. I can understand why you might think it's a little weird haha.
Great idea. But it's hard to pass something like that here in the US. There are just way too many people depending on fatty fast food in their lives...
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