Masculinity and Body Weight in Japan: Grappling with Metabolic Syndrome

225 Pages·2020·4.665 MB·English

by  Genaro Castro-Vázquez

Masculinity and Body Weight
in Japan
Drawing on the concept of the somatic self, Castro-Vázquez explores how
Japanese men think about, express and interpret their experiences concerning
body weight control.
Based on an extensive ethnographic investigation, this book offers a compel-
ling analysis of male obesity and overweight in Japan from a symbolic inter-
actionism perspective to delve into structure, meaning, practice and subjectivity
underpinning the experiences of a group of middle-aged, Japanese men grap-
pling with body weight control. Castro-Vázquez frames obesity and overweight
within historical and current global and sociological debates that help to high-
light the significance of the Japanese case. By drawing on evidence from
different locations and contexts, he sustains a comparative perspective to extend
and deepen the analysis.
A valuable resource for scholars both of contemporary masculinity and of
medical sociology, especially those with a particular interest in Japan.
Genaro Castro-Vázquez is Professor of Asian Studies at Kansai Gaidai Univer-
sity, Japan.
Routledge Contemporary Japan Series
77 Animism in Contemporary Japan
Voices for the Anthropocene from post-Fukushima Japan
S hoko Yoneyama
78 Political Sociology of Japanese Pacifism
Y ukiko Nishikawa
79 Zainichi Korean Women in Japan
Voices
J ackie J. Kim-Wachutka
80 Japanese Culture Through Videogames
R achael Hutchinson
81 Social Trauma, Narrative Memory and Recovery in Japanese
Literature and Film
D avid C. Stahl
82 Cultural and Social Division in Contemporary Japan
Bridging Social Division
E dited by Yoshikazu Shiobara, Kohei Kawabata and Joel Matthews
83 Locating Heisei in Japanese Fiction and Film
The Historical Imagination of the Lost Decades
M arc Yamada
84 Masculinity and Body Weight in Japan
Grappling with Metabolic Syndrome
G enaro Castro-Vázquez
85 New Frontiers in Japanese Studies
E dited by Akihiro Ogawa and Philip Seaton
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Contemporary-Japan-Series/book-series/SE0002.
Masculinity and Body
Weight in Japan
Grappling with Metabolic Syndrome
Genaro Castro-Vázquez
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Genaro Castro-Vázquez
The right of Genaro Castro-Vázquez to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-34057-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-32370-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
To the memory of my mother

Contents
List of figures viii
List of tables ix
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
1 From obesity and overweight to metabolic syndrome 11
2 The somatic self and the Japanese 43
3 The somatic self, metabolic syndrome and the mass
media 74
4 The somatic self of some ‘chubby’ (debu) men 98
5 The somatic self of some beefy and slim-muscular
Japanese men 119
6 The somatic self and culinary practices of some Japanese
men 144
7 The somatic self and social class of some Japanese men 169
Conclusion 192
Index 208
Figures
1.1 Metabolic syndrome rates 15
1.2 Exercise patterns 16
1.3 A matter for men 18
1.4 Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top 20
1.5 Obese men (BMI ≥25) (aged 20–60) 23
1.6 Obese women (BMI ≥25) (aged 20–60) 24
1.7 Underweight women in their 20s (BMI<18.5) 24
1.8 Rate of men aged 65 or over who exercise regularly 25
1.9 Rate of women aged 65 or over who exercise regularly 26
1.10 Rate of men aged 20–64 who exercise regularly 26
1.11 Rate of women aged 20–64 who exercise regularly 27
1.12 Practice of nutrition balanced dietary life 28
1.13 Economic circumstances and healthy habits 29
1.14 Vegetable and fruit consumption per day 30
1.15 Men and metabolic syndrome 31
1.16 BMI-based world obesity rates 35
3.1 Nine million people estimated to have yase-metabo 79
3.2 BMI/abdominal girth (finding an index for obesity) 89
3.3 Metabo medical examination 89
5.1 Fat-burner supplements 126
5.2 A slim-muscular man’s abdomen 127
6.1 Male stamina 151
6.2 Pork and beef offal 151
6.3 Male plum 157
Tables
1.1 S pecific medical examinations/specific health guidance, current
state of affairs 22
1.2 Standards to recommend special medical guidance (2nd term) 32
1.3 Standards to diagnose metabolic syndrome 33