Japan's public gyms offer key to personal fitness
2005-12-28
Those looking for an ideal workout that's off the beaten ex-pat path might do well to consider their own municipal backyards. One of Japan's best-kept secrets is the wealth of workout opportunities available at public recreational facilities and the fitness, sports and martial arts activities they offer.
With minimal Japanese skills, a quick trip or call to your local ward or city office can be your key to popular paths of budo (the Japanese Way of martial arts), a new swimming regiment, training gyms and much more.
Much like the sports clubs that many Japanese experience in junior high or high school, the powers that be have long taken it upon themselves to provide the same fitness opportunities for adults (as well as youths) by way of municipal services. Whether you were weaned on this local school tradition or not, if you're living here now, you're likely eligible to try what's available to the average adult citizen.
Virtually every municipality has some version of a public sports center, budokan (martial arts hall) or recreation facility. The larger the municipality, the more varied and palatial the offerings are likely to be. As a public service, activities and facility access often cost a fraction of what their private counterparts charge. And since many cities and wards limit access to those that live and work within their boarders, the commute to, as well as waiting list for, the court, tread machine or karate class can cost less time as well.
Shibuya Sports Center, for example, offers a training gym, volleyball courts, table tennis and a pool for a paltry 400 yen per day (100 yen for kids junior high aged and younger). While the ward's Sarugaku Training Gym has a variety of weight and training machines available to its residents, workers and students for the same low price. (For details in Japanese check out: http://www.city.shibuya.tokyo.jp/eng/public-facilities.html.)
Shinjuku's Yoyogi Kyogijo sports center (www.naash.go.jp/yoyogi) offers the ideal indoor tool to fitness with its public swimming pool and women's swim classes (for about 550 yen per lesson). Tokyo city fathers offer an array of fitness opportunities from aerobics, dance and swimming classes to open-pool hours, sports workshops and amateur team tournaments at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (http://www.tef.or.jp/tmg/index.php). And if you think budokan are just for showcasing kendo demonstrations and rock concerts think again.
The mission of these martial mansions is to teach as well as display. The nation's famed Nippon Budokan (www.nipponbudokan.or.jp) in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, for example, not only hosts annual competitions in such arts as karate and kendo, but is a de facto satellite dojo for various schools that teach Japan's traditional martial disciplines. Weekly classes also include judo, aikido, shorinji kempo and naginata (Japanese halberd training). Its less known counterpart, Tokyo Budokan (www.tef.or.jp/tb/), includes jo-do and iaido (short staff and sword drawing) to its martial menu of classes, which are open to the public for about 500 yen per lesson.
To find out what your local budokan or recreation center has to offer, ready your resident, workplace or student ID then contact the local office to ask what you can sign up for.
