Japan: Too Rich to Be Thin
by James Na ~ May 23rd, 2006. Filed under: Humor, Japan, Korean Culture, Miscellaneous. And speaking of unhealthy food, Japan has become a nation of fat people or so reports Yomiuri Shimbun:
People in this country began to enjoy a richer but less healthy diet after World War II and exercise less as automobile use spread, leading more and more of us to become fat. Attention is now focused on diagnostic criteria and therapeutic approaches for the ailment.
What a shocker! More caloric intake, less physical exertion leads to obesity? Call the press!
A while back, there was a New York Times article about Okinawan men, once the longest living in Japan, are now the shorted-living. The article also pointed out that American-style diet took Okinawa by storm after World War II, and it was there McDonald’s built its first Japanese branch (Tokyo was the second).
Is that why the Okinawans want the U.S. Marines to leave?
Of course, Japan is not the only Asian nation to experience rich society’s problem. Even as North Koreans starve and grow stunted, South Korea is experiencing obesity problems, particularly among the children. When I was growing up in South Korea, it was very rare to see fat children. Now, they are very common. The same culprits are at work: more caloric intake, fattier food, more car rides and less physical exertion. A little less PC Bbang and a little more Ssireum wouldn’t hurt.
This is yet another reason South Korea’s lunatic left should foam about the U.S. — America, the purveyor of fat! Ah, but even if we left (be it Okinawa or Yongsan), the fat will remain! It’s not our fault that we made you rich.
May 23rd, 2006 at 12:57 pm
J:
I think the Times is reaching. Okinawan food is a lot closer to Chinese food in the way it’s prepared and the affinity for meat. As ethnic Chinese communities have prospered, in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Southeast Asian diaspora, the rate of obesity-related diseases has soared, although modern pharmaceuticals and surgical care have simultaneously extended their average life spans. The Chinese diet - and by extension, its Okinawan variant - is simply less healthy than the Japanese one.
A Times food writer on Okinawan food:
[Ed: edited tags for formatting reasons]
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Then how do you explain the fact that Okinawan males were the longest living among Japanese BEFORE the U.S. occupation?
It is only in the post-World War II period that the Okinawan males rank dead last in longevity among Japanese.
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:14 pm
The Okinawan cuisine is NOT simply a “variant” of Chinese cuisine. Unless, that is, brown sugar, konbu, and goya are previously unknown staples of Chinese cooking… like champuru, Okinawan food is colored with Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Thai, and other asian influences. You must remember that the Ryukyu kingdom was a seafaring merchant nation at one point in its history.
Also, with the numerous factors determining health and lifespan (environment, genetics, personality, etc), pinnning a shorter lifespan primarily on diet seems a little disingenuous and fallacious.
May 24th, 2006 at 5:02 pm
I am generally not a single variable explanation kind of a guy. But to suggest that diet plays a strong role on lifespan is not “fallacious,” particularly when one can control (up to a point) other major factors like genetics.
May 24th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
I believe “a strong role” is different from a “primary” role.
Mmm… semantics. It’s what’s for dinner.