Keeping Healthy in Japan

[eigodelets]

Hows your health?

What's your opinion of gaijin's health in Japan. Given that we have diff body types and skin colour still I'm sure most other gaijins I see here look awfully ill and pale.

How are you feeling?

[eigodelets]

One more thing,

I sometimes see new teachers come to Japan. They look fit and healthy. But after a few months their complexion pales, they get dark patches under the eyes and just look unwell.

Any comments. Maybe I'm just focusing too much on the sickly ones. Perhaps it's nothing.

[Glenski]

Drinking and bar hopping will put bags under anyone's eyes. Many foreigners take that route when they arrive and want to experience "the culture". Many simply don't know how to cook for themselves.

The most common change I have seen (and experienced) is loss of weight. I attribute this to more walking. Back home, trains and subways weren't nearly as commonplace, and people drove a lot, even a couple of blocks to the grocery store.

[Jackie Treehorn]

Interesting point eigodelets......

I think its the drinking that most people do. For the first 4-5 months here I was drinking a fair amount and my job at the time was extremely depressing. Also, the food is pretty unhealthy.....yoshinoya, ramen etc. is not healthy.

Also, the water is treated pretty heavily here so I think it dries out people skin and hair. Be sure to use a good shampoo and conditioner....and also, I use a Brita filter (brought from home) which you can buy at Loft/Tokyu Hands etc. I think it helps quite a bit.


Luckily I have been getting back into shape lately, stopped drinking (well, aside from a beer at dinner) and am feel good.....the only problem is that I am a night-owl and my salaryman like job starts at 8am. Oh wait, one more problem, I live in Osaka and the air is pretty bad.....

[sincity]

Interesting observation about foreigners not knowing how to cook for themselves. Totally off the mark in my case, however. My Chicken Kiev is simply to die for...Glenski, you must really come over one night after the store closes...Oh, I prefer red wine with chicken, there's a good chap.

And the food IS unhealthy! Go figure...I grew up believing that anything with soy sauce on it was health food.

Well, I'm no nutritionist but this is my recipe for health & happiness:

Eat a piece of (raw) fruit everyday. (And someone please tell my why the natives have such disdain for nectarines! )

Drink a big bottle of Volvic everyday. Volvic has the best blend of minerals. Great for gaijin skin!

Never eat at Yoshinoya, First Kitchen, Wendys etc. (although I confess that I do occasionally go to Mos Burger). Much better to go to an izakaya and feast on sashimi, tofu, and chicken cartilage. And be sure to chat up the girls at the next table. You can practise your Nihongo, Eigodelets!

Drink as much as you want but stay away from the hard stuff.

But as too much beer will give you a potbelly, go to the gym! You can find me at the Hata Sports Plaza in Ikebukuro for at least one hour of every weekend. (It's a shabby gym but they have squash courts.)

And finally, get out of the shade and into the sun! Let's have a look at you! It's Friday! What are you going to do for your mental & physical health this weekend?

[sincity]

Something for you to think about: 不健康な体で不健康のことできない。



Post Edited (07-23-04 19:32)

[carlos]

being a bit harsh on Yoshinoya aren't ya? They do a lovely mabodoufu on rice and there be cheap salads too. 10 million salarymen can't be wrong

[sincity]

Perhaps I am, Carlos. May I confess something to you? I've never been to Yoshinoya. Oh, I've poked my head in a few times and I often threaten to take my girlfriend there, but I've never actually set foot in the place.

Now you strike me as a reliable chap, Carlos, so I'll take your word for it about the mabodofu being lovely. However, I challenge your assertion that 10 million salarymen can't be wrong. They can be very wrong, they can be downright offensive. I would hazard to guess that eating at Yoshinoya is like riding the train in late afternoon: the unkempt, unstable, and unemployed on all sides of you.

I say this all in jest, you are happy to know. Bon apetite!

[carlos]

good on you for your honest reply Sin-kun. Yoshinoya can be a bit intimidating to enter and sometimes feels like you're in a pig trough. But when you're on the run it can be good for a quick fill-up. I love that full feeling of rice and onions sitting in the bottom of the stomach.

Since the beef ban though, the pork substitute just doesn't taste the same. That was a sad day indeed when the cheap beef bowls finished.

[kurogane]

I'm with Glenski. Late night bar hopping makes for baggy eyes and sallow complexion. Good fun, though. I find I get way more daily light exercise here just going on my daily rounds: cycling, walking, more walking, carting bags and bags and bags of groceries. At home exercise seems to be something I do on purpose; all other errands involve driving, parking, and walking 32 feet to the door of the mall.

よしのやは死であり

Yoshinoya, hmmmm. Every now and then, but as a dialy regimen, Kurogane say YUK!

That new Mabodofu is pretty yummy, though.

[eigodelets]

I agree with most of above. Very suprised about the Volvic. Thats what I always drink cause I just felt it was more refreshing that the other waters...try telling that to most people at they'll just tell you its all the same. So yep, def reccommend volvic too.

Good point about the weight loss and more walking here. So true. I think there's a msg there actually. Don't do as much intentional exercise here as you would at home or you may overload.

What about stress? Teaching English can be pretty stressful. My pet name for a certain type of Students is that they are LIFE SUCKERS. They drain so much from you because they have no independant thought or initiative so you have to work so hard to coax them into speaking. Also the local work ethic is nasty.

Recently the heat followed by a battering of Air con probably hurt the health too.

Girls tend to put on the kilos. My theory is this... They don't like the local cuisine so the only alternatives are KFC, bakeries and fried bentos.

Any other health tips welcome. My days of izakaya craziness are gone.....

[carlos]

exactly Kuro-kun, wouldn't be good to eat Yoshinoya everyday.

Actually, Sincity is on to a good thing - cooking yourself (or even better, having your wife cook for you :). Since we were married, she has introduced me to some pretty tasty, healthy food. Kimpira gobou and hijiki are full of fibre and do wonders for the bowels. There's always the good old miso soup too, with big chunks o' tofu and spring onions. Together they make a great light supper - not too stressful for the stomach.

[kurogane]

What is all this about Vulva being good for our gaijin skin? I had an inkling that regular access to it was most healthful, both mentally and physically, but I never knew it has hidden dermatological benefits. I am so excited, I am going to run right out and get some.

Once again, my friends, you have proven to be a fountain of wisdom. Kurogane very happy.

Kurogane still taking heavy medicine. Good for back, make brain work funny.

[Jackie Treehorn]

10 million salaryman can`t be wrong?

Yeah, just like 50million fat-f#ck Americans can`t be wrong about McDonalds.

[richard]

Kuro:
Get off heavy medicine. Eat natto...lots... morning, noon and night. Turns your brains to mush and brain won't work after that. Then Kuro will be very, very happy man.
R.

[kurogane]

Richard,

Thaks for the concern. The drugs are for a major back problem. Once it settles down, off the drugs I go. No worries there.

I might take up the natto and daily dose of Vulva, though. Preferably not together.

[richard]

Kuro:
Have you considered acupuncture (seriously)?
R.

[kurogane]

R,
Thanks. Yup. Problem is that it is more muscle than nerve related (which may display more of an ignorance of acupuncture than any good reason not to try it). I wrecked my back skiing a few years ago, and while the spine is ok, the muscles go out once a year or so. Too much desk work. More regular exercise, maybe Yoga, some massage, all these are on the schedule, but I was told to let the current problem settle down a bit first. But this time I am getting on it. No, really.

Did you ever hear tall tall tales of tiny Japanese women walking on the backs of their men as massage? Where are they? I must search for the Lost Tribe of Tiny Massage Walkers.
;)

[richard]

Kuro:
Drop me an email at: intl@yushodo.co.jp. I will be here today (Mon.) and all day tomorrow.
Richard

[kurogane]

Thanks for that Richard. I assume by here you mean Kyoto. Unfortunately, I am on fieldwork until next week. Bummer.

Next time, here or up in Tokyo?

[richard]

Kuro:
Let me clarify. By "here" I mean at the email address which is Tokyo. I was thinking that I could share a personal experience concerning back probs and accupuncture which may be or may not be helpful or informative to you. Also can recommend a book for light back exercises to strengthen one's back if you are interested. I just didn't think that the GP public posting was a proper place to further the discussion.
R.

[kuro_kitty]

Did you ever hear tall tall tales of tiny Japanese women walking on the backs of their men as massage? Where are they? I must search for the Lost Tribe of Tiny Massage Walkers. ;)

Did you end up finding a little Japanese lady to walk up and down your back? I need one NOW!

[kuro_kitty]

I sometimes see new teachers come to Japan. They look fit and healthy. But after a few months their complexion pales, they get dark patches under the eyes and just look unwell.

Any comments. Maybe I'm just focusing too much on the sickly ones. Perhaps it's nothing.

I don't think it's got too much to do with drinking. I think it's a combination of a few things...diet, sunlight, air pollution.

I was a big fruit and vege girl back in Aus and always on the fresh fruit juice, lots of tuna, rye bread, whole meal stuff but here the bread is sooo damn sweet I feel like I'm eating grandma's cake for breakfast.

I don't go out drinking that much, but my complexion has become much paler and my hair and skin aren't as healthy/glowing/shiny as they were before I arrived in Japan....maybe it's the air pollution levels too....and the fact I never get to see sunlight. I also find alot of the cosmetics here, for example, shower body scrubs feel alot more harsh on the skin, thus leading to lack of moisture so the body, in turn has to overcompensate and produce more oil.

[Gaijin de Moscu]

I blame stress. I only realised how stressed out I was in Japan a few months after I returned to Europe.

Long hours, bad air, lack of greenery, (more) diffcult relations, being always on stage...