9/13/2005

THE WORLD’S DORKIEST TUNE: ‘Radio Taiso’ exercise music of Japan

THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE WORLD’S DORKIEST MUSIC.
Radio Taiso- the morning exercise music of Japan plays on TV and loudspeakers every morning.

I’ve enjoyed this music twice a day at work for a couple a decades so I think you think all you need to “enjoy” it too.
Read full explanation via Joi.Ito.com
Watch the YouTube video of the Radio Taiso fun!

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Here is the official Japanese website with all the various Radio Taiso instructions.
Don’t worry—just click on all the links below which will take you to all the picture instructions on how to do the exercises.

RADIO TAISO instructions: Machine Translation, Japanese–to–English
RADIO TAISO Dai 1 (Number 1)
RADIO TAISO Dai 2 (Number 2)
RADIO TAISO – the official Japanese instructions:
Dai 1
Dai 2

Posted by Taro in Arts/Culture, General, Society | 31 Comments »

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31 Responses to “THE WORLD’S DORKIEST TUNE: ‘Radio Taiso’ exercise music of Japan”

1. Izabel Says:
   July 12th, 2006 at 9:17 pm

   I cannot to listen the Radio Taiso melodie…
   Plese, can you send me mp3?
   Or partiture to play PIANO?
   Thank You,
   Izabel

2. Taro Says:
   July 13th, 2006 at 12:05 am

   Sure I can send you an MP3 of the Radio Taiso song. The MP3 file is 3.4MB which is very large but I hope that gmail will accept it (it is taking a very long time to upload).

3. a riramba Says:
   September 12th, 2006 at 4:00 am

   My testies.

4. Bob Says:
   November 16th, 2006 at 3:23 am

   can you please send me the mp3?

5. Taro Says:
   November 16th, 2006 at 11:14 am

   Bob wrote:
   Can you please send me the mp3?
   To download the Radio Taiso music right now, you can find my MP3 of it on my podcast blog: The World’s Dorkiest Music at taro.podOmatic.com.

   Or if that link gives you problems, you also download the Radio Taiso MP3 HERE via the “guzen_radio” blog: guzen radio 13-sports festival preview.
   Don’t worry. This MP3 is public domain and it’s totally legal for you to download it for personal use only (NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster retains the commercial rights).

   Now, how’s that for service! :-D

   L8r…

   Taro, who just finished my 10am Radio Taiso on NHK

   PS: Here’s more Radio Taiso info via ChinMusic….
   

   rajio taiso

   Literally, “radio exercise.” An exercise program broadcast over the radio in Japan. It has been aired every day since 1928, with the exception of eight days from August fifteenth to the twenty-second, 1945, when the program took a break for obvious reasons.

   Rajio taiso was started by a government organization to keep the populace in tip-top shape. On the show, a piano plays as an energetic man leads people in light calisthenics. Some companies still start the day with a session of rajio taiso; others do it at three pm, just when everyone is starting to go into their post-lunch doze. Neighbors also gather to do the exercises in the early morning during the summer holidays. But many companies have stopped the tradition, and, frankly, the young generation considers rajio taiso a bit of a joke. It’s kind of like dancing to a Lawrence Welk record or doing one of those German beer hall dances where everyone clucks and squats. Visitors to Japan often find rajio taiso an amusing affirmation of their stereotypes of the country. But the show’s little secret is that it’s actually American. The first program was aired in 1925 from the New York headquarters of Metropolitan Life Insurance. Sometime around the stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression, American interests turned from radio exercises to finding food to eat. But in Japan, the program just kept building in popularity. By 1962, Japan was holding rajio taiso demonstrations of ten million strong.

6. Aoki, Nobuo Says:
   November 24th, 2006 at 1:31 am

   Hi! Please were I can obtain a video about RADIO TAISO (to brazilians learn). Or tutorial with images (photos)with english explanation How to do Radio Taiso.
   Thanks In Advance!

7. Taro Says:
   November 24th, 2006 at 4:46 pm

   Here is the official Japanese website with all the various Radio Taiso instructions.
   Don’t worry—just click on all the links below which will take you to all the picture instructions on how to do the exercises.

   RADIO TAISO – the official instructions: Machine Translation, Japanese–to–English
   RADIO TAISO Dai 1 (Number 1)
   RADIO TAISO Dai 2 (Number 2)

   See also the Wikipedia links
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajio_taiso

   Watch the YouTube video of the true nature of Radio Taiso
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbvbb_yCKUI

8. Rajeev Says:
   June 20th, 2007 at 7:17 pm

   Please let me know where I can get a free English version of radio taiso.

   Arikato gudaimastha
   Rajeev

9. Totgio Says:
   June 26th, 2007 at 10:11 am

   Hi, I come from Thailand and I interest about RADIO TAISO song because my company are Japanes and we have RADIO TAISO but sound not clear, How I get RADIO TAISO song in version English? please suggest me.
   Thank you very much

10. Taro Says:
    June 26th, 2007 at 4:34 pm

    On 6/26/07,Totgio wrote:
    ….[I am interested in the] RADIO TAISO song because my company is Japanese and we have RADIO TAISO but the sound is not clear. How I can get RADIO TAISO song in version English?

    The unclear sound is typical of all companies in Japan (until recently when they changed from tape to CDs). You can buy the official Japanese CD at Amazon.com Japan. However, I have never heard of an English version of Radio Taiso. Japanese people tell me they cannot understand all the “words” to the Radio Taiso because the song is mostly grunting to the rhythm. Therefore, I would doubt that the song’s exercise commands would translate to English very well.

11. Miho Says:
    August 16th, 2007 at 12:13 am

    Hi. I’ve been looking an MP3 of the Rajio Taiso song! Could you send me the MP3? I cannot find where I can download it. Thanks!

12. Angel Gonzalez Says:
    September 14th, 2007 at 12:23 am

    In my office we are implementing the rajio taiso but I’d like to have the mp3 without words only the music, colud you send it to me??? thanks

13. Taro Says:
    September 15th, 2007 at 10:21 pm

    We are implementing the rajio taiso but I’d like to have the mp3 without words only the music, could you send it to me?

    The only-music radio taiso is not very common. You could buy one of the official NHK DVDs via Amazon.com.
    However, I don’t know whether the official DVD has a only-music radio taiso version on it—you need a Japanese person to read the extensive details of each of the 5 or 6 DVDs that NHK offers.
    
    But never fear! I did find a midi file of only the music to radio taiso and also a pdf file of the sheet music for it that any pianist could play for your own recording.

    Taisou_Shimasho.midi

    Taisou-Shimasho.pdf file of the sheet music

    Personally, I think the midi file of the song Taisou-Shimasho is just fine for exercise purposes. Yes, it sounds electronic since it’s computer generated, but it’s clear and easy to understand the cues for the exercises.

    Enjoy!

14. Angel Gonzalez Says:
    September 17th, 2007 at 10:54 pm

    Ok, thank you very much for your help, I guest this could help us. I just going to edit the mp3 file in order to have a bigger duration.
    Fortunelly I play piano and I have been working with midi files for a long time even more 30% of the employees in my job are japaneses.
    This is much than I had expected from you, thanks a lot!!!!!

15. Taro Says:
    September 19th, 2007 at 3:14 am

    Glad to be a help Angel-san! Have fun playing the piano and recording that for your exercises (since that would be the highest quality).

16. airwhere Says:
    April 14th, 2008 at 11:19 am

    Hi. I’ve been looking an MP3 of the Rajio Taiso song! Could you send me the MP3 & the lyris? I cannot find where I can download it. Thanks!

17. Taro Says:
    April 15th, 2008 at 9:19 pm

    The Radio Taiso Dai Ichi song is an MP3 file that weighs 4Mega-tons (3.9MB) you could just right click on the “download” button at the top of this page.
    http://taro.podomatic.com/entry/2007-08-15T16_10_08-07_00

    The direct URL to the song is:
    http://taro.podomatic.com/enclosure/2007-08-15T16_10_08-07_00.mp3

    Or try this…
    boomp3.com

    As far as the “lyrics” go, they were a mystery even to my Japanese coworkers. The words are mostly grunting, “Hup, one, two, three– Hup, four, five, six…”

    Enjoy!

18. Alex Says:
    July 22nd, 2008 at 5:30 am

    I´ve looking for RADIO TAISO DAI NI (Number 2) in MP3. Could help me?

19. Taro Says:
    July 22nd, 2008 at 11:30 am

    Here’s the official NHK TV version of RADIO TAISO DAI NI (Number 2)…

    boomp3.com

    http://boomp3.com/listen/174m4z2v3_e/rajio-taisou-daini

    Here’s the joke version performed by the comedy pair, “Ninty-nine.”
    boomp3.com

20. Ashiikun Says:
    July 27th, 2008 at 5:54 am

    Does anyone know where I can find official instructions on what motions to do when in what order, etc? The official pages listed in the comments don’t work, and I can’t find any online.

21. Ashiikun Says:
    July 27th, 2008 at 5:56 am

    Oh, email (if you could).

22. Taro Says:
    July 27th, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    RADIO TAISO – the official instructions in Japanese

    http://www.jp-life.japanpost.jp/health/radio/hlt_rdo_index.html

    RADIO TAISO DAI ICHI (Number 1)
    http://www.jp-life.japanpost.jp/health/radio/hlt_rdo_dai1.html

    RADIO TAISO DAI NI (Number 2)
    http://www.jp-life.japanpost.jp/health/radio/hlt_rdo_dai2.html

23. Ashiikun Says:
    July 28th, 2008 at 11:06 am

    Thank you very much! ^.^

24. Juan Valdiviezo Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 1:19 pm

    Muchisimas gracias, desde Peru.

25. sara Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 12:42 pm

    Hola! Podrías enviarme por favor el mp3 del radio taiso? Me encantaría tenerlo, en la escuela lo hacíamos en la mañana y en el undokai, era divertido.

26. Taro Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 3:01 pm

    sara wrote:
    Podrías enviarme por favor el mp3 del radio taiso?

    SURE!
    Enjoy the two different versions that have sent to you via email.

27. Dubu Says:
    March 30th, 2010 at 11:50 pm

    It’s quite impressive! Would you send me those mp3s please? It’s very cute and looks great for health. :)

28. Taro Says:
    March 31st, 2010 at 9:35 am

    Dubu wrote:
    It’s very cute and looks great for health. :)

    Sure!
    Radio Taiso is designed as a low-impact form of calisthenics—three levels of intensity are shown on TV. There is even a seated/wheelchair version is shown on the public broadcaster, NHK, every weekday morning at 9:30. It is best to learn to the movements by watching one of the videos on youtube—or just ask ANY Japanese person.

    Refer to these “Radio Taiso Dai Ichi”:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS92XkVKM0Q
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QptEbZySO74

    A more vigorous, closeup, and detailed “Radio Taiso Dai Ichi” (best for learning)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsFzD3C2blw

    More “modern” version…

29. Jen Says:
    July 6th, 2010 at 1:55 am

    Thank you! Be careful doing this the first few days because of the bouncing, which is really bad for you I was always told, but after a few days you get used to it. I barely know how to count but hope to understand the instructions one day. ありがとございました！

30. R1Pants Says:
    September 27th, 2010 at 11:05 pm

    FINE, I get until this is meant being, “reminisce with every body about our childhoods,” where the age group is a lot of 20-something year olds. I won’t criticize the omission of songs can compare&contrast to “I Wanna EndUp Being Like You” and also “The BareNecessities” (JungleBook)

31. Taro Says:
    February 19th, 2012 at 9:46 pm

    MO’ BETTA?!?
    

    

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