Morning Exercises

Every morning at 8:15, the 300-odd people in my section all stand up as tinny piano music begins to play over the loudspeakers. A female voice gives polite encouragement. All around me, people stare off into space and - with varying degrees of enthusiasm - begin the exercises.

The first few months, I pretended I was too busy - urgent emails, memos, anything so that I could stay seated and hide my laughs at my colleagues. I even made a surreptitious video to show my friends.

Now, however, I stand up as well. I reach for my toes, then reach to the sky. I swing my arms back and forth to stretch my back. I even do jumping jacks. And I wonder why, when the exercise music starts up again at 2 pm, when we could all use something to wake us from out post-luncheon stupor, no one stands up.

Group exercises - a caricature of Japanese working life, the life of a "Salaryman" - is now among the things that occupy my days. So welcome to my new blog - a place for me to document, when the mood strikes, the strangeness working in Japan - as a woman, an American attorney, and especially, as a foreigner.