A few weeks ago, I saw a white male walking in my neighborhood along a river. He was alone and looked in his mid-30s, wearing a pair of short black pants, flip flops, and sunglasses but otherwise nothing, i.e., topless. He stood out from others for the toplessness and his well built, tanned body. It was a beautiful day, so I assumed he was one of the recently increasing tourists to Japan due to the cheaper yen, enjoying seeing several beautiful bridges over the river.
A week later, while walking in the same area, I heard a sudden whip cracking sound. Everyone there looked around to find the source of the sound and viola! There was a man, the guy I saw a week earlier, again topless, wearing a pair of short black pants and sunglasses, but that day not flip flops but a pair of black shoes and holding in each hand long (i.e., 2m each) black resistance bands, which were tied to a metal fence of a small local park along the river, and a half open large black bag laid there with a large water bottle popping out.
He was doing arm exercise using the resistance bands, which produced the whip cracking sound each time he moved his arms. The sound was heard not only in the park but also beyond.
Then, two small Japanese boys, who may be brothers standing ten meters away from the guy, started shouting, "Mommy, what's he doing?" The sound of the whip cracking was bizarre enough to attract their attention but the mother just said to them, "Come on boys! Don't look around!"
The area is in Central Tokyo and Tokyoites are used to seeing non-Japanese people as outsiders such as tourists and (sadly in most cases) co-workers, but not that much when it comes to neighbors. The guy definitely is a local, doing his daily or weekend exercise there.
This made me smirk because the question I had a couple of weeks ago when seeing the guy for the first time was resolved. He was walking at that time topless to get tanned (not because it was too hot). He must be building his muscle to compete in a bodybuilding competition or something. I also smiled because it was completely understandable to me why the boys asked such a question. Kids are supposed to be curious. But it was also clear to me why their mother suppressed their innocent curiosity. She, as a mother, must have found using such long resistance bands in a public place dangerous or, as a Japanese person with "common sense," doing something conspicuous like working out topless while making such a harsh sound in a public place inappropriate and something that should not be asked about or looked at. Personally, I find doing exercise topless in a public place acceptable, but using such long bands in a small public park troublesome. It's dangerous, obstructing people walking (including myself). But no one (again including myself) said a thing. No one wants trouble, especially with someone who doesn't seem to speak Japanese and I know from the first hand experience of a translator that Japanese common sense does not necessarily make sense to non-Japanese. So, the mother walked away as if she had seen nothing, almost dragging the boys and I left there to head for a coffee shop nearby.
Then, I saw an Asian (likely Japanese) man walking, who was also topless with a well built tanned body. Whether he had long resistance bands in his backpack, I don't know.
That posed a question to me: Is Japan becoming more diverse and its common sense changing or is my neighborhood just popular among bodybuilders?
数週間前、川べりを散歩する男性をみかけました。白人の方でおそらく30代。短パン、サンダル、サングラスで、上半身は裸。日焼け＆マッチョでした。よく晴れた日だったので「上半身を焼きながら隅田川沿いを観光かな」と思いました。
その1週間後のことです。同じ場所を散歩していたら、どこかから「ひゅ～ん、ひゅ～ん」というムチを振り回したような音が聞こえてきました。一体何事かときょろきょろ探したその視線の先にいたのは男の人。そう、1週間前に見かけたあのマッチョガイです。その日もサングラス、短パンでしたが、サンダルではなく、黒いシューズ。しかも両手に黒くて長いゴムバンド（それぞれ2メートルぐらい）を持っているのです。ゴムバンドの端は小さな公園の鉄柵に括り付けられていて、彼が腕を動かすたびに「ひゅ～ん、ひゅ～ん」というムチのような音がするのです。
そう。彼は観光客ではなく十中八九近所に住んでいる。そして毎週（あるいは毎日？）この辺りで筋トレ＆日焼け散歩をしているに違いない。なるほど。最初見かけたときも、暑かったからではなく、焼きたくて上半身裸だったんだな。謎が解けました。
そのときです。10メートルほど先で、小学校低学年＆幼稚園ぐらいの兄弟が叫び始めました。「ママ、あの人何やってんの？」そりゃそうです。ゴムバンドの異様な音に子供が関心を持つのは当たり前。ところが母親は「しっ！いいから来なさい。きょろきょろしない！」と𠮟りつけるばかり。
分かります。公共の場所で2メートルのゴムバンドは危ないでしょ、あるいは、公共の場で上半身裸でゴムバンドは常識的にアウトでしょ、とでも思ったのでしょう。でも、日本語の通じなさそうな外国人男性に物申すこともできず、子供を引きずるようにしてその場を離れていきました。
私としては、公共の場で上半身裸でも（下半身はダメ）、ちょっとした筋トレぐらいなら「あらあら」とは思いますが「日本も自由になったな」という感じなのですが、ゴムバンドエクササイズは危ないと思いました。でも長年英語の仕事に携わっていると、必ずしも日本の常識が海外の人に通用するとは限らないことも分かっている。確かに公園のあたりは人は少ないし、変に突っかかられてもいやだな｡｡｡ というわけで私も静かにその場を去りました。
近くのカフェに向かって歩いていたその時です。別の男性が歩いてきました。おそらく日本人。そしておそらく30代。上半身裸。マッチョでよく焼けていました。彼が背負っていたリュックにゴムバンドが入っていたのかどうかは分かりません。
でもこれって、上半身裸で歩くのはもう当たり前ってこと？日本もダイバーシティが進んでるってこと？それともうちの近所が単にボディビルダーに人気の場所なのか？私の頭の中には疑問がぐるぐると渦巻くのでした。
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