Wa is not just an ideology but a practice that seeps into every corner of Japanese behaviour. When Henning and I toured Japan in Toyotoro for four months, to try and shed some fast-gaining pounds, we visited many municipal gyms across the country. These local gyms came as quite a surprise for us because we don’t really have them in UK or Germany because you don’t need membership to use their facilities. The size varies but they normally consist of a small workout area with machines, space to play badminton, practice yoga and some have pools etc. They are often free or cost as little as 100-500 yen (1-5 euros).
Out of all the ones we’ve used, we noticed two features that were consistent in every local gym: one, the equipment was always pretty dated, but they were well maintained and, most admirably, after every use every single person wiped it with a towel, so it was clean for the next person. Two, it was always quiet. Except for the sound of the machines at work, no one spoke loudly in fear of disturbing others.