NO DIET NO LIFE; Boundaries of Acceptability in Japan Oct 28 2005
The Japanese are not renowned for their obesity. The reasoning usually goes that the traditional diet of rice, fresh fish and vegetables helps keep everyone trim, and a look around the Tokyo streets pretty much confirms this. But even though the national health is good, the attitude towards exceptions to the norm is often worryingly negative.
Take a ride on Tokyo's circular Yamanote line and you'll be confronted by an endless series of bikinied girls on posters for soft porn magazines and beer advertisements. The onboard TV screens are either full of adverts for "Microdiet" and various exercise machines, or for online shopping channels. Not that much out of the ordinary here I suppose, though I can't see the next Carlsberg campaign being won by a bikini pitch.
What's worrying is the lack of an age limit on the targeting of this beautiful body message. The other day I came across a copy of Seventeen magazine, which like it's English counterpart is read avidly up until the age of seventeen after which it's deemed far too young. This editions free gift? A sheet of "Happy Stickers" on the theme "NO DIET NO LIFE" - a take off of Tower Record's hugely successful "NO MUSIC NO LIFE" campaign.
I'd imagine the same thing released in the UK would cause an outcry for contributing to eating disorders and encouraging unnecessary dieting at such an age. Yet nobody here understands my surprise. It just goes to show you that there are still significant gaps on what is acceptable and what's not, even in the most modern metropolitan cities.