13 movements, three minutes and a bit of music. That's all it takes to pick up Japan's morning exercise routine. It might sound like another passing fitness fad, but it's a habit that's nearly a century old and has won over millions of people worldwide. So why is it so popular, and do the benefits really make it worth sticking with?

If you ever find yourself walking the streets of Japan early in the morning, don't be surprised to come across a group of people who suddenly stand together, raise their arms, roll their shoulders, bend from side to side and hop lightly to a familiar tune. Within a few minutes it's all over and everyone goes on their way, probably leaving you the only one still wondering what just happened. What you've seen is Radio Taiso, a Japanese morning exercise routine that began almost 100 years ago. It has grown in popularity over the decades and become deeply rooted in everyday life, from schools and workplaces to neighbourhood parks.

In recent years it has drawn interest outside Japan too, mainly because it's simple and short, needs no equipment, and relies on consistent, everyday movement. In a world that keeps hunting for the perfect workout, this might be part of Japan's approach to health, and perhaps another small piece of the longevity puzzle so closely linked with the Japanese.

Millions of Japanese can't be wrong

At least on the surface, its appeal lies in its simplicity: just 13 movements done in three minutes. No more, no less. "Taiso is a series of exercises with rhythmic, continuous movements that work the joints, stretch and contract different muscle groups and raise the heart rate," explains a qigong master and holistic health practitioner. "The routine is short, it's set to music and the instructions are very clear. It includes arm raises, stretches, shoulder rolls, bends and jumps, and the aim is really to get the body moving and wake it up in the morning."

She came across the routine somewhat by chance while planning a professional trip to Japan a little over a year ago. "As someone who works in health and longevity, it caught my attention straight away," she says. "While preparing for the trip I learnt a lot about Japanese culture, and in one video I heard it described as the secret to Japanese longevity. I was fascinated and told myself I had to find it in Japan. Radio Taiso is really part of the culture there. Millions of Japanese people do it every morning."

When she arrived in Kyoto, she found out that people gathered every morning in Maruyama Park to do it together. "I found out they started at 6:30am. I got up early and went to the park, but on the first day I couldn't find the spot. The park was lovely but empty. I saw a woman walking her dog and she said, 'Yes, it's over there.' When I got there I realised it had already finished, because the whole session is so short. I was ten minutes late and it was over."

The next day she arrived earlier. "I went back and found them. I joined in and fell in love with it. It felt magical." At the end of that session she was reminded of one of the routine's core principles: you don't need to be an athlete, and you don't even need an instructor. "I went up to a woman I thought was the teacher, and she said, 'I'm not the teacher, I just put the music on from the radio and do it with everyone else,'" she recalls. "The whole idea is that anyone can do it anywhere. All you need is the willingness. Since then I've kept practising it at home, and I've added it to my own classes."

Coming from the world of qigong, she sees some similarities with what she teaches, but also a big difference in pace and character. "They have things in common: movements that work the whole body, mobilise the joints and muscles, and improve coordination and balance," she explains. "But Radio Taiso is much more dynamic, much more rhythmic and much faster. In qigong the movement is slower and more mindful, and the focus is on relaxation, awareness and the flow of qi (energy)."

She says being simple and short doesn't make it shallow. Quite the opposite. "It's dynamic movement. Parts of it get your heart and lungs working. It works the joints, makes the body more flexible and improves coordination and balance. There's something very clever about it, because in a very short time you work a lot of different parts of the body."

She sees accessibility as one of its biggest advantages. "There are also versions you can do seated, so it suits people in all sorts of situations. You'll see very young children and very elderly people doing it. The movements are simple and accessible, you don't need equipment, and you can do it standing or sitting, almost anywhere and at any time."

For her, though, the benefit isn't just in the three minutes themselves but in the habit built around them. "The big message is that even three minutes of movement is still movement. There's something very deep and very simple in that, and to me that's the magic. You don't need anything special. Health isn't necessarily built through dramatic steps. It's also built through consistency, through the small things you do again and again."

There's another side to it that matters just as much: it's a social practice. "Community is part of it, whether it's in the park, the factory or the school," she says. "Even if each person does it on their own with the radio, they know other people are doing it at the same time. To me, that's what's amazing about Radio Taiso: the consistency, getting the body moving, and the basic, simple things built into the routine."

What the research says

At least some of these benefits have been tested scientifically. A randomised controlled trial published in 2024 in the Journal of Epidemiology involved 226 older Japanese adults with pre-frailty or frailty. For 12 weeks, the intervention group did Radio Taiso at home every day, alongside a nutrition program that the control group also received. By the end, they had improved on several measures of physical fitness, including agility, dynamic balance and aerobic endurance, and they felt more confident about continuing to exercise. Adherence was especially impressive, at more than 94% of program days. However, the study found no benefit on its main outcome, mental quality of life.

A second, much larger study followed 11,219 Japanese adults aged 65 and over for an average of 5.3 years. Those who reported doing Radio Taiso alone had around an 18% lower risk of being diagnosed with dementia than those who didn't do it. One important caveat applies here. This was an observational study, so it can't show that Radio Taiso itself lowered the risk. People who stick with the routine may also differ in how active they are overall, in their social lives, or in other health habits.

Japan's national workout

The name hints at how old the routine is, but not at the story behind it. Long before workout videos were on every phone, people in Japan were exercising along to a voice coming out of the radio. The broadcast wasn't just meant to teach people how to bend and stretch. It also aimed to make movement a shared habit, one that connected each person to the community around them.

"Radio is simply radio, or 'rajio' in Japanese, and taiso means exercise, so the name just means 'radio exercise'," explains a lecturer and researcher of contemporary Japan. "It started in Japan in the late 1920s, in 1928 to be precise, and was most likely inspired by America. The Japanese came across exercise programs broadcast on American radio and adopted the idea."

She notes that the routine was tied to national identity from the very beginning. The first Radio Taiso broadcast marked the Emperor's accession to the throne, a formal national celebration. "All this happened against the backdrop of what we call the militarisation of Japan," she explains. "In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Japan entered a militaristic phase, with rising nationalist sentiment, a stronger military, occupations and wars."

In that climate, she says, exercise and sport took on a wider meaning. "That period brought a wave of awareness of exercise and sport as part of the military agenda. The thinking was that people needed to be strong and raise strong children, who would later become strong soldiers and fight for their homeland. So the broadcasts in schools and neighbourhoods weren't just about physical activity. People would gather and exercise together as part of a wider idea of national unity and a strong, healthy population."

After Japan's defeat in the Second World War and the American occupation, the routine took on a different meaning. "The Americans saw it as linked to the military and to violence, so it was changed. The talk of strength and combat stopped, and the focus moved to discipline and health," she explains. Radio Taiso later found a new home in the working world. "Companies adopted the exercises as a way for staff to prepare for a long, demanding working day. Employees would gather in the morning and do them together, partly for health, but also for motivation, morale and team bonding."

Still, Radio Taiso's historical place in Japanese culture doesn't match reality today. The researcher is wary of the image of an entire nation still starting every morning this way. "Some companies still do it at work, but it's not really universal anymore," she says. "Some use it for team building, as part of their corporate culture, but it used to be very widespread. These days nobody really needs a radio, yet somewhat paradoxically the routine survives, mainly among older people who still listen to the radio."

Over the years, she says, it has also become much more of a community activity. "You can still see older people in neighbourhoods and parks getting together to do it. It's become a social thing, a way to meet up and be together. It's not intense or demanding, and it's not something you see all the time. It's more tucked away inside everyday Japanese life."

The secret to a long life?

Finally, you can't talk about Radio Taiso without getting to the question behind almost every discussion of the Japanese lifestyle: is it part of the reason people in Japan live so long? Japan is among the countries with the highest life expectancy in the world. According to OECD data, life expectancy there is 84.1 years, about three years above the OECD average.

The researcher is careful not to give Radio Taiso all the credit, but she sees it as one more expression of a culture where movement is part of life itself. "I do see a connection, but it's not a clear-cut one. It's more indirect," she says. "I think life expectancy in Japan is linked, among other things, to people's attitude to movement in general. The Japanese are known for walking more than almost anyone in the world. People walk a lot and spend a lot of time on their feet, and it's not unusual to see older people riding bikes, not for sport but simply to get around. I think taiso is part of that picture, one piece of a much bigger whole. Presenting it as a direct cause of longevity sounds a bit far-fetched to me. But as part of a lifestyle where movement is built into everyday life, there's definitely a connection."

That may be why it's so hard to separate Radio Taiso from the culture around it. It isn't just a workout. It's a public habit that has become so much a part of daily routine that it barely feels like exercise anymore, and that may be exactly what has helped it survive from one generation to the next. In a world where fitness can become a whole business of time, money and discipline, Japan offers a far less dramatic model: just get up and move for a few minutes. "It's something I'd happily bring into our own work routine," the researcher says.

This article is for general information only and isn't a substitute for professional medical advice. If you have a health condition or haven't exercised in a while, check with your GP before starting a new exercise routine.