The Japanese people are hoping to measure up... or down.

Stick People
The Japanese people are hoping to measure up. They are instructed that they must measure down or receive mandatory re-education.
	The Japanese people have a national law that mandating companies and local governments to measure waistlines of Japanese people between the ages of 40 & 74.
This is now part of their annual checkups. This means that over 56 million waistlines -- around 44% -- of all Japanese waistlines will be measured.
Anyone who exceeds government limits -- 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women -- and has a weight-related ailment will be given diet guidance unless they lose weight. If necessary, they will be given re-education after six of continued "over-weight".

While health experts warn of the risk of obesity, a new Japanese study advises that being very skinny is more dangerous. This study also found that people who are somewhat chubby live longer. The study found that people who are a little overweight at age 40 live six to seven years longer than very thin people. Very thin people have life expectancy that is less by approximately five years than the life expectancy of obese people. Shinichi Kuriyama, an associate professor at Tohoku University's Graduate School of Medicine who worked on the long-term study of middle-aged and elderly people said, "We found skinny people run the highest risk... "We had expected thin people would show the shortest life expectancy but didn't expect the difference to be this large". The study was conducted by a health ministry team led by Tohoku University professor Ichiro Tsuji. It included 50,000 people between the ages of 40 and 79 for a period of 12 years. It was conducted in the northern Japanese prefecture of Miyagi. Kuriyama said, "There had been an argument that thin people's lives are short because many of them are sick or smoke. But the difference was almost unchanged even when we eliminated these factors". He added that the main reasons for the shorter life spans of skinny people were believed to include their heightened vulnerability to diseases such as pneumonia and the fragility of their blood vessels. But Kuriyama warned he was not recommending people eat as much as they want.

Nevertheless the Japanese government has a goal of shrinking the overweight population by 10% over the next four years and 25% over the next seven years. In order to reach its goal the government will impose financial penalties on companies and local governments that fail reach specific targets.
Summoned by the city of Amagasaki one recent morning, Minoru Nogiri, 45, a flower shop owner, lined up for waistline measuring. With no visible paunchiness, he appeared to run little risk of being classified as overweight. The Japanese have a new word, "metabo". However because the new state-mandated limit for male waistlines is strictly 33.5 inches, he was anxious. He had secretly measured himself at home days earlier. He said, "I'm on the border".
Nogiri entered a booth where he bared his midriff thereby exposing a flat stomach with barely identifiable love handles. The nurse wrapped a tape measure around his waist across his belly button and discovered 33.6 inches. He is 0.1 inch over the limit. He issued forth the word, "Strikeout."
Some critics such as Yoichi Ogushi, a professor at Tokai University's School of Medicine near Tokyo and an expert on public health, said there was "no need at all" for the Japanese to lose weight. Others say the government guidelines -- especially the one about male waistlines -- are too strict and over half of all men will be considered overweight. The effect may be to encourage overmedication and ultimately raise health care costs.
In Amagasaki officials are moving aggressively to measure waistlines in their "special checkups." The city will measure at least 65% of the 40 -- 74-year-olds who are covered by public health insurance. City officials acknowledge this is a difficult goal.
The Japanese's weight loss campaign started a few years ago. The Health Ministry started chanting about a medical condition that was then unheard of. It was called metabolic syndrome. It is a collection of factors that may heighten the risk of developing vascular disease and diabetes. The factors include abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and high levels of blood glucose and cholesterol. The fear-inspiring condition was shortened to the term metabo and is now Japan's shorthand for overweight.
In one town, Mie, the mayor became so enthralled with the anti-metabo campaign that he and six other officials formed a weight-loss group called "The Seven Metabo Samurai." Their campaign abruptly ended after a 47-year-old member with a 39-inch waistline died of a heart attack while jogging.
In another city gym in Amagasaki, dozens of residents -- mostly appearing under-weight -- danced to the city's anti-metabo song. Their song warns against trouser buttons popping and flying away, "pyun-pyun-pyun!" Its verses include "Goodbye, metabolic. Let's get our checkups together. Go! Go! Go! -- Goodbye, metabolic. Don't wait till you get sick. No! No! No!"
Kenzo Nagata, 73, is a toy store owner. He said that he ignored a letter summoning him for a "special checkup." He continued stating that his waistline was no one's business but his own. He added that his waistline is 32.7 inches -- easily below the government's limit. He says he will disregard the second notice which the city sends the recalcitrant. His conclusion is, "I'm not going... I don't think that concerns me."
Observing Our World: There is serious lesson for all free people: An inch allowed to be taken from the people will turn into a loss of rights a mile long... or wide, whatever the government can tax, take, or appropriate.