LIVING IN JAPAN
Culture, Convenience, and Calories—Contrasting American and Japanese Lifestyles
Observations on Obesity, Nutrition, and Lifestyle
When I left the US in 1976, the obesity rate had reached 15%. I spent the next decades of my life in Asia, mostly Japan. Nothing quite prepared me to witness the changes that had occurred in America in the intervening years.
When I arrived at San Francisco Airport in the summer of 2024, I thought I was prepared for the culture shock. I knew the US obesity rate was inching its way up to 41%, while the rate in Japan, where I have been living for 37 years, has just reached 4.5%, still the lowest in the developed world. What I didn’t expect was the opening of a window of understanding and empathy.
I had been anorexic as a teen. Twiggy was the idol of my youth, and I dreamed that if I could only be as thin as she was, all my problems would be solved. It didn’t work.
Eight years later, when I became pregnant with my first child, I focused on eating what would be best for the baby growing within me, and I—and my baby—came out of the experience healthy and strong. From those days onward, I have been careful about my health and conscious of maintaining a healthy weight.
