Hello and welcome to another episode of the “Really?” Show. Where we report on the
funny weird and interesting things we find online. I’m your host Aaron Ross.
Today’s show title “Only in Japan”
We learned about our first story from “mamamia.com”. "Fat? Not in Japan you're not" This is an
strange policy idea on how to deal with the obesity epidemic. Make being overweight illegal!
Japanese lawmakers have taken a bold step, we might call it, what did I say? strange?
Japanese lawmakers have taken a bold step in dealing with obesity. We might call it
crazy. A bill known as the “metabo law” was passed in Japan in 2008.
A cost that would only be higher if afflicted by this metabolic disorder. An increasing
fear over the spiraling health expenses of an aging populace expenses that would only
increase if affected by this metabolic disorder prompted the Japanese Government to act.
The policy, called ‘Metabo law’ is simple – stay below a government stipulated waistline
or face the consequences. This is enforced by a yearly mandatory check
of citizens the waistline between the ages of 40 to 75 years old – thats around 56
million waistlines, or roughly 44 % of the population.
The checkup require men and women to maintain their waist at or below 33.5 to 35.4 inches,
85cm to 90cm. Oh ya well no, forget that. The penalties are not very severe for those
unable to meet the required waistline size
They will have to sign up for counseling sessions, follow observation via phone and email, and
assistance in motivational. Businesses and local authorities are mandated, [inaudible],
Businesses and local authorities are mandated to ensure 65 percent participation with the
aim of cutting down the country’s obesity rates by 25% by 2015. Failure to fulfill these
goals will lead to fees and penalties
NEC, Japan’s leading manufacturer of PCs, claims that failure to meet the stipulated
target could incur fees up to $19 million. Who knows, only time will tell if these measures
will be effective.
Our second story: "Perfectly crooked" we learned about this on “japantoday.com”. Much of
the western world see crooked teeth as unattractive and a straight set of pearly whites as perfection.
Well, the story is different in Japan, where “yaeba,” or snaggletooth, are considered
adorable; with many Japanese men finding the defective smile childlike and appealing.
“Yaeba” actually means “multilayered” or “double” tooth, which describes the
fanged appearance.
Courtesy of pop idol group AKB48′s Tomomi Itano and a few other celebs sporting some
rogue chompers, “yaeba” has become a cosmetic trend with many young Japanese women marching
to dental clinics to receive temporary or perhaps even permanent artificial canines,
which are termed “tsuke-yaeba,”.
“‘Yaeba’ bestows the girls a roguish cuteness”, said Taro Masuoka, director of
the Pure Cure clinic which performs the procedure and he further states that many of the clinics
patients are “ fashion conscious and exceptionally adorable.” The clinic even has a half-price
discount on “tsuke-yaeba” for middle school and college students. The temporary or removable
tsuke-yaeba are offered at the same cost.
Now, Masuoka has even gone as far as forming the first all snaggletooth group, TYB48, tsuke
yaeba 48. While TYB48 has yet to hit on the pop idol stage, it seems like the “yaeba”
style will stick around in Japan for some time.
Our last story: "Black in Japan”, [inaudible], Our last story we call: "Black in Japan”
we saw this on “clutchmagonline.com”. B-Style, a style craze that derives from African-American
hip-hop, has Japanese youth rejecting more conventional styles for regular trips to the
tanning salons; braids, and other accoutrements of hip-hoppery.
There are reports that people who wear B-Style, short for "Black Lifestyle' “desire dark
skin like American hip hoppers,” a cute young lady named Hina is an embodiment of
the popular craze. “Black people are elegant and great,” she stated
Hina works at a popular boutique called Baby Shoop in Tokyo. Their slogan is “Black for
life.” black for life, I don’t even know what I’m doing now. The hip-hop lover views
the shop to be a “accolade to Black heritage, their music, style and dance.” Hina admits,
“What is unique about B-style is that you don't look Japanese.” so, these ladies make
it a habit to darken their skin just to emulate the dark brown tones of Black women. The article
reveals that employee of Baby Shoop undertakes a dark tanning including Hina herself.
The B-Style fashion maven declared her affinity to Black-American styles started when her
hair began to friz during her high school days, and while reading Source Magazine.
She said, “Then I took at Black artists, and I found them really awesome.”Hina lives
her entire life around the ‘B-style’ trend.
Thats our show for today. Thanks again for watching. I’m Aaron Ross, we’ll see you
next time.