It's illegal to be fat in Japan

You should talk to a Japanese person about Koreans or Chinese, I think you'd drop your opinion of Japan.

I've made plenty of three-way friendships with Japanese and Koreans, and I myself am half-Chinese. Moreover, I'd probably agree with whatever this hypothetical Japanese person had to say about Koreans or Chinese.

Ergo, my point still stands.

Not all Japanese are bigoted, but their are just as many, if not more bigots in East Asian countries as any other part of the world.

I'm not singling them out, I just think these idealized portraits we paint here of other countries, particularly Japan and Western European countries, are bullshit.

Did you just not even read the first line of the article?

This law applies to SALARYMEN. You know, businessmen who work for corporations. It doesn't refer to "people in general" or "everybody".

Clearly personal responsibility ain't doing jack for Americans.

Well no one can really be the judge of that since so many Americans have nothing but the lack thereof.

Exactly my point.

Oh, and most Japanese aren't six feet tall, so you're self-referential analogy is completely irrelevant.

I apologize, I was under the impression that there might me Americans that have become Japanese citizens in order to work for native businesses.

1. When in Rome, do as the Romans. If you can't make the cut, tough luck.

2. Japanese companies are notorious for not wanting to employ foreigners (yes, this includes Japanese citizens who are not ethnically Japanese). They frankly didn't want these non-Japanese people working in Japan in the first place, so your point isn't exactly relevant to their concerns. On the flip side, considering that many Japanese do not even consider non-ethnically-Japanese Japanese citizens to be Japanese, you don't even know for sure whether this law applies to the 1.22% of Japan's population that isn't ethnically Japanese.

Besides, this is first and foremost about the Japanese people, who obviously make up the majority of the people who are affected by this law. Oh, and the the governmental limits - 33.5" for men and 35.4" for women - weren't just pulled out of their ass. They are exactly the thresholds established for Japan by the International Diabetes Federation as guidelines for identifying health risks. In case you didn't know, Asians are particularly susceptible to the health risks of excess adipose tissue, and therefore must maintain a lower BMI than Caucasians to maintain the same health.

Try again.

Calm down Paris Geller, Yale Daily is safe in your grip.

Would be nice if you could just man up and admit you were wrong - not for my sake, but for the sake of common etiquette.

It's okay. I accept your evasive beating-around-the-bush remark as the implicit equivalent.

You're like a thesaurus from Hell.

For the sake of the common etiquette? man, shut the fuck up and go pontificate elsewhere.

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic....

But anyways, skinny people shouldn't be so self-righteous, people have different genetics. Most people don't have the time or the money to exercise or eat healthy conveniently.

genetics shmetics! was obesity ever an issue before cheap, nutrition-less food became easier to get than the measles? no sir. obesity is the stamp of our "civilization" in the US.

i know a lot of people with "bad genes" that claim they can't lose weight; they say this as they proceed through their 2nd drive thru of the day. just cause one watches their relatives overeat their whole life (cause their relatives probably remember the hunger that ravaged them during the depression), it isn't in your genes. a pattern of overeating disattaches one from their own bodies individual nutritional needs, often resulting in extra fat. do not blame genetics. think about it, eating is learned behavior just like anything else.

besides, thoughts create actions. a person who believes "i'll never lose weight, i can't genetically" will remain fat until they change their thinking.

(this coming from a girl who lost 75 lbs, went from the plus size section to a size 2 after dropping the lie that "oh i can't help it, its my genetics").

Read my entire post, I didn't blame it all on genetics; Some people are predisposed to obesity, and with the food that is affordable today, it's easy to happen. People are busy and broke these days, they don't have the money to buy healthy foods and they don't have the time to go to the gym. If you want to offer people constructive advice and healthy alternative to what they're eating, fine, but I think those who self-righteously criticize people who are struggling with their weight should look in the mirror and sort out their own problems before disrespecting another person of whom you nothing about.

I go to this liberal arts college on a scholarship and I noticed that these rich kids are in shape because their schools and parents taught them to eat healthy, I have friends who never, ever, even ate fast food as children. These things, learning about nutrition and such, are good, but I (I'm not obese BTW) NEVER had access to them as a child.

I think government should! Wouldn't you rather your tax dollars go to beneficial programs instead of paying for lard? The goverments' job is to protect the people. Sometimes you have to protect people from themselves.

Probably because women have a higher percentage of body fat then men do. But yeah I see what you mean, women don’t usually carry it in their waist.

I totally agree that basing it on waist size is really not the way to go. for example..i'm pretty thin...but there is no way i could run a marathon.I'm just not that fit. ha

anglcazn - you are always the voice of reason :)

i don't think it's so much that they are forceing the people to look a certain way, but to maintain a certain health level.

One must understand that Japan is a very different culture to us. They are very proud of their uniformity and simply have a very different out look on life then most Americans. I'm not saying that this is a good or bad way to be, but it does allow for policies like this to go through rather easily. Also this isn't about looks, but health, there is a reason why the Japanese live a lot longer then Americans by average.

Japan is not going after the fast food industries in their country they're telling individual citizens that if they're over the specific weight guidelines set by the government they will be on probation and their workplace will be fined--which will most likely be paid off by taking out a portion of his or her paycheck to pay the government fine.

I doubt that anyone obese "chooses" to be that way.

Scully, where's Mulder?

He got fat, so I dumped him ;)

and leave it to the americans to have the highest population of fat people in the world...

it would be completely wrong, anti american , and unconstitutional. thank god we don't live in a country that tells you what you can eat and how to look.

except we do?

Because a Sumo Wrestler gets to consume as much as he wants. The rest of the populace only gets to dream about eating that second bite of squid and rice.

The glans is the head of the penis. It doesn't make you fat... unless it makes you pregnant.

HA! Thank you CreditFigaro! I was too distracted by his poor spelling and punctuation I didn't catch that one. Nice :D

Congratulations! I applaud the effort and choice for a different life. Over the years I try to put something healthy in my diet every year; now any visitor would think I was a health nut: but really it is about making informed decisions and taking the time to see them through.

Congrats... luckyly for me I really don't get fat, and I can eat anything I want... back then about 3 years ago I used to eat a lot of fast food when I worked at the local mall, and I never really gained any weight... as of lately I have had gained like 10 pounds, so I'm 160lbs now hah... I still do my abs, but not to kill weight, just to form a 6 pack.

There are people like that, like me who can eat a lot and never get fat... I do never eat fast food anymore, I'm not against it since it tastes good, I just eat other stuff I like that is more healthy. :D

It is not healthy or safe to lose that much weight and that short of a period of time. I'm glad you've changed your ways, but just saying. that's dangerous. whatever you're doing.

Good for you. Hang in there and keep it off. Regualar exercise is the best way.

That sounds pretty self righteous, retro-syl, not to mention prejudiced.

Rice is extremely rich in carbohydrates, and therefore if you eat nothing but rice ALL the time, you're going to be extremely fat.

Actually, the chicken and rice diet is very common for losing weight- there's not fat.

The baby factor I suppose.........by the way...this would work wonders for the American way of life.....to suffer consequences for being overweight....think of the effect this would have...obesity is such a proclem in America, and Japan in my opinion is hitting the nail right on the head.

Women are physiologically different than men and should have a higher percentage of fat in their bodies naturally. Not only this, but we squeeze watermelon sized babies out of our vaginas, so our hips need to be wider.

BMI is not a good measure of health. My BMI is almost in the obese range yet by bf% is about 12. I guess someone forgot to tell the person who invented it that muscle weighs more than fat? But yeah it should be based on a ratio, not an absolute.

1 pound of muscle weights the same amount as 1 pound of fat. One pound equals one pound no matter what you weigh. But I absolutely agree that BMI is not a complete tool to judge a persons' health.

yes one pound is one pound...but there is a difference in density. like one pound of gold or lead compared to a pound of cotton or hair... it ends up weighing the same, but they take up a different amount of space. besides one pound muscle is better for you than a pound of fat....more efficient for your body.

Absolutely! I'd never dispute that.

"1 pound of muscle weights the same amount as 1 pound of fat"

Yes, thank you I made it past grade 3. I was obviously referring to density.

`_`

i've always been a bit puzzled by the ginormous portions. it guarantees me lunch the next day, tho!

I feel like that's exactly why it WOULD work. If we start to put more immediate consequences in place, people would be more encouraged to get off their asses and exercise.