China is huge, covering a large percentage of the continent. Japan is a relatively tiny island. Both are in the world’s top four economies. China’s population is much larger than Japan’s, and so is its military budget. China is straight-up Communist; Japan is not.
China was the major influence on Japan until world events changed the configuration and the United States became a more powerful influence. Political issues between China and Japan are numerous and complicated, and apparently, they view each other with more animosity than any other countries regard either of them.
In 2018, Dr. Shuhua Xu wrote of how the Japanese, Korean, and Han Chinese ethnic groups share many traits of appearance, culture, and language, and noted that…
It is usually difficult to tell which of the three East Asian groups a person comes from just by looking at their appearance… Such similarities are also reflected in our genetic data. The genetic difference between any of the three groups is less than 1% of their total genetic diversity, which is much smaller than that between any of the groups and a European population (~10%).
It appears that the three groups diverged from their common ancestry between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago, during the Chinese Shang dynasty. Some differences in northeastern Japan have recently puzzled researchers, but still everyone in what used to be called the Orient shares more heritage with each other than with Europeans or any other group. This is why it is strange that, as Childhood Obesity News recently observed, China’s obesity rate has enlarged rapidly.
According to WHO’s Global Health Observatory, on the obesity scale, Japan ranks at #183 in the world, with only 4.94% of its adults obese. South Korea is #174, with 6.74% of adults obese. China is unhappily the 166th most obese country, with 8.21% of adults obese. None of these even comes close to the current stats of the United States — the 13th fattest, with 42.87% of our adults obese.
Nevertheless, China seems not to understand why its adult population is fatter than those of the two countries with which it shares such close genetic links — or why its children show every sign of ballooning into even more unacceptable proportions.
A very recent news report is titled, “Avoiding Obesity: What the World Can Learn From Japan.” As it turns out, Japan’s slim profile is attributable to the same old familiar wisdom that we have all heard, and that so many of us have chosen to ignore. Try not to be too surprised — the Number One secret is healthy eating. That translates into simplicity, even minimalism. The point is to get hold of a small amount of fresh, basic food and then interfere with it as little as possible. The plate heaped with a hearty mountain of food is shunned. Quality and variety are definitely preferred over quantity.
Namiko Chen writes,
Diners in Japan might enjoy three or four more small courses, like the ever-popular protein-packed edamame. Eating smaller portions over several courses lets your stomach tell your brain when satisfied, lessening the risk of overeating. Light and nutritious broth soups like traditional miso soup often accompany Japanese dinners and make great stomach fillers between courses.
The people live longer, and without so much medicine, because there is less heart disease and diabetes. The journalist says, “Japan still strolls along its path to wellness relatively pharmaceutical-free.” This is particularly true in the area of weight control. The demand for weight-loss drugs is tiny.
Exercise is regarded not just as a beneficial option, but as an essential condition of life. The country’s built environment is purposely more geared toward walking, and the average Japanese averages 7,000 steps per day as compared to an American’s 5,000. Mainly,
Japanese Zen culture encourages self-care and healthy living from an early age.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “Common ancestor of Han Chinese, Japanese and Koreans dated to 3000-3600 years ago,” BiomedCentral.com, 04/10/18
Source: “The Global Health Observatory,” WHO.int, undated
Source: “Avoiding Obesity: What the World Can Learn From Japan,” TallasseeTribune.com, 09/10/24
Image by electricnude/Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic