Each Monday through Saturday the day at ARI starts with morning exercise. The entire ARI community gathers in a large circle and does a light exercise routine to music. It lasts about 3-5 minutes. Watch the video below of a bit of ARI’s morning exercise with the sound on for the full effect.
But this is not just an ARI thing. The exercise program is broadcast nationwide every morning at 6:30am on the Japanese public station NHK Radio 1. It is called Radio Taiso. Raído Taiso is done each morning in schools, work places, and anywhere there is a radio. In fact we find the key to doing morning exercise is to follow the lead of Yuko-san or Koshi-san, who grew up doing these exercises.
Radio exercise was first broadcast nationwide in 1929. The purpose is to promote social happiness as a byproduct of maintaining and improving the health of Japanese citizens. The exercises were designed to be easy and accessible for people of all ages and to be performed anywhere.
Today there are three exercise programs, Nos. 1, 2, and 3, which are broadcast on a rotating basis. The current radio exercise No. 1 has been broadcast since 1951.
You can find out more about Radio Taiso here.
Leave a comment