June 14th, 2008


14
Jun 08

Legal Waist Limit

Japan has recently adopted a law that declares legal limits on waistlines. 33.6 inches (85.3 cm) is the limit for men. If you’re considering emigrating to Japan with the intention of becoming a citizen, this is something to consider.

If you exceed the limit, you are described by the lovely term “metabo,” which is simply metabolic syndrome truncated. In Japanese, foreign loan words have a euphemistic effect, unlike an actual Japanese word such as debu*.

*chubby, fat.