A Japanese broadcast tradition known as rajio taiso started in 1928, when the Postal Life Insurance Bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Communications established a national exercise programme to improve people’s health. The state-run insurance firm took a cue from US insurance companies which sponsored fitness programmes on American radio during the 1920s. The broadcasts became wildly popular as they aired on Japan’s public broadcaster NHK. Nearly a century later the stretching exercises are still performed by millions every day. Many tuned in during the coronavirus pandemic while remote working, to stretching routines featured several times a day on radio as well as television and YouTube.
