Group Exercise in the Park

I scheduled a trip to a nearby zoo this morning to see a Lydth's Jay, or Amami Jay, breeding program. Unfortunately, I arrived a little too late or at the wrong entrance in time for the tour. I was frustrated at the train/subway web and annoyed with myself for not giving myself enough time for both travel and getting lost. My consolation was getting to watch some group morning activities as is typical of the Japanese. There are many people who use parks for walking and jogging on most days, but on some occasions there are small groups of people practicing Tai Chi or other organized stretching. Our neighbor in Okinawa performs morning stretches with a program she gets from an AM station on the radio. The only words I can understand are the count-offs of the exercises: "Ich...ni...san...yon..."

The exercise group at the zoo was a sizeable one. Perhaps the US should adopt something like this, a radio program, to help people get moving and address our growing problem with sedentary lifestyles?

I tried to be discrete with my picture-taking. As a foreigner, events like this fascinate me and I want to preserve and share the moment. I am also aware that this is quite an ordinary event for the Japanese. I have seen tourists in other countries take pictures of the local people seemingly without a care or thought as to their privacy or desire to be photographed. I don't want to be one of *those* tourists, but at the same time, the poor ethics associated with sneaking a photograph are not lost on me.

When it became obvious that I was not going to make the tour of the Lydth's Jay breeding program, I decided to head back to the hotel and prepare for a day of talks. I hurriedly made my way through the train/subway matrix, pausing only to marvel at the persistence of Large-billed Crows, even in the big city.

I like the sweet surprises that seem to pepper all areas of Japan. This statue of owls, probably pointing the way to something mundane, is anything but.  I like to think they were helping me back to my hotel because they knew something I did not.

POSTCRIPT:

As it turned out, the morning walk to the zoo was the last time I felt well. I have no idea what happened, but I suspect the sandwiches that were provided during our field trip may have led to some food poisoning or salmonella. Rather than a traditional bento meal, the field trip organizers assembled lovely sandwich assortments: ham and cheese with mayo, BLT with mayo, egg salad, and two others I can't remember. I do recall that the box of lunches was not in a cooler but rather a cardboard box in the front of the bus near the window just behind the driver. The Japanese do many things well, but a field lunch is not one of them.