JapanSugoi

When you see all the slim young Japanese men and women in Tokyo you don’t really think Japan has an obesity problem.  The battle of the bulge mainly effects older Japanese men and in April this year, the government passed a law that requires companies and local governments to measure the waistlines of their employees aged between 40 and 74 years old.

If waistlines for men exceed 83.75 centimeters (33.5 inches) and 88.50 centimeters (35.4 inches) for women, they are categorized as having “metabolic syndrome” and those firms will be financially penalized.

Japanese toy and electronics maker Bandai Namco Group’s  バンダイナムコグループ subsidiary Happinet  のハピネット hopes to help out by encouraging workers to walk to the office instead of taking a taxi so they came up with the ingenious “Taxi Walker タクシーウォーカー” a pedometer that acts as a taxi meter with the fare appearing in real market prices.

For a two kilometre (1.24 miles) stroll, the base fare would come up as 710 yen and increase by 90 yen for every additional 280 meters, showing users exactly how much they are saving by using their own two legs. source: AFP