TOKYO: 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.
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…
