Shortly before my husband and I left Japan and were dealing with the hassle of getting an address change, we were led up to the super secret sorting area of the main ward post office. The time at which we were taken there was during the lunch hour and as we sat waiting for people to work out how to handle our (apparently) unreasonable request to have our mail sent to an address other than our former residence, a group of postal employees started listening to music and doing group exercises. Some of them were into it, others followed along gamely, but not enthusiastically, and one guy was clearly phoning it in as he did a lackluster wave here and there, a brief and restricted hip wiggle here. Most companies don't do group exercises like this, but the post office and some large traditional companies still do. Additionally, groups of old people and school kids still get together in parks and public places to exercise together at certain times.
There's something inclusive and heart-warming about seeing people do this together despite how poorly some of them are capable of doing it and the public exposure. It's also, frankly, not a bad idea to encourage movement and health. It's a coming together of people and priorities, and I will miss seeing this type of group exercising.
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