Latest news with #MarikoKatsumura
Japan Today
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
Japanese 'salarymen' inspire with cheerleading acrobatics
Members of Cheer Re-Man's, an all-male cheer-leading team of active businessmen, perform at "Cheer Up Japan" in Tokyo, on March 22. By Mariko Katsumura and Kyung Hoon Kim It's a cold, wet morning and frigid air is seeping through the open doors of a college gymnasium in Tokyo. But that doesn't seem to worry Soichiro Kakimoto and 30 other young businessmen as they gear up for their weekend routine: cheerleading. "Smile when times are tough!" shouts a tall man with an eager smile. The others -- all dressed in dark suits and ties --pump their fists and jam to the upbeat music that fills the space. Their chants echo through the gymnasium. "Yes you can! You can definitely do it! Go, Japan! Go Japan!" Members of Cheer Re-Man's, an all-male cheer-leading team of active businessmen, perform at "Cheer Up Japan" in Tokyo. Image: REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon The young men are all about spreading cheer through their eye-popping acrobatic performances, volunteering their weekends at shopping malls and other venues to entertain crowds. Calling themselves "Cheer Re-Man's" -- a mash-up of "cheerleading" and "salaryman" -- the group, formed in 2023, is made up of alumni from the elite Waseda University's male cheerleading squad. Their day-jobs range from real estate sales to marketing, and they balance their professional lives with their passion for cheerleading. For practice, the squad often borrows half the gym from a female college cheerleading team in exchange for biscuits. From Monday to Friday, Kakimoto is the quintessential Japanese salaryman, commuting in crowded trains, working late and going out drinking with colleagues, wearing the stretchy navy Uniqlo suit that doubles as his cheerleading uniform. "On weekdays, I use my brain and on weekends, I use my body. Even if one isn't well, the other might be, and that's contributing to my overall mental health," said the 23-year-old, who works at a software development company. "If we, Japanese salarymen, can do what we're passionate about, then everyone else can keep chasing their dreams too." The unusual sight of Japanese corporate warriors being launched 7 meters into the air in synchronized routines won them an online commercial spot to advertise the stretchy Uniqlo suits they wear for their performances. The group also competed in "Britain's Got Talent", where they came third in their semi-final. On a recent weekend, the suited men performed in front of a huge crowd at a shopping mall with gravity-defying stunts, human towers and infectious energy. Yasuko Yamaki, a 61-year-old housewife who learned about the group three months ago through social media, was there to see the spectacle. "In Japan, we're all going through a lot. Watching these salarymen putting in so much without giving up makes me cry," she said. "It's so inspirational." © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Japanese 'salarymen' inspire with cheerleading acrobatics
By Mariko Katsumura and Kyung Hoon Kim TOKYO (Reuters) -It's a cold, wet morning and frigid air is seeping through the open doors of a college gymnasium in Tokyo. But that doesn't seem to worry Soichiro Kakimoto and 30 other young businessmen as they gear up for their weekend routine: cheerleading. "Smile when times are tough!" shouts a tall man with an eager smile. The others -- all dressed in dark suits and ties --pump their fists and jam to the upbeat music that fills the space. Their chants echo through the gymnasium. "Yes you can! You can definitely do it! Go, Japan! Go Japan!" The young men are all about spreading cheer through their eye-popping acrobatic performances, volunteering their weekends at shopping malls and other venues to entertain crowds. Calling themselves "Cheer Re-Man's" -- a mash-up of "cheerleading" and "salaryman" -- the group, formed in 2023, is made up of alumni from the elite Waseda University's male cheerleading squad. Their day-jobs range from real estate sales to marketing, and they balance their professional lives with their passion for cheerleading. For practice, the squad often borrows half the gym from a female college cheerleading team in exchange for biscuits. From Monday to Friday, Kakimoto is the quintessential Japanese salaryman, commuting in crowded trains, working late and going out drinking with colleagues, wearing the stretchy navy Uniqlo suit that doubles as his cheerleading uniform. "On weekdays, I use my brain and on weekends, I use my body. Even if one isn't well, the other might be, and that's contributing to my overall mental health," said the 23-year-old, who works at a software development company. "If we, Japanese salarymen, can do what we're passionate about, then everyone else can keep chasing their dreams too." The unusual sight of Japanese corporate warriors being launched 7 metres (23 feet) into the air in synchronised routines won them an online commercial spot to advertise the stretchy Uniqlo suits they wear for their performances. The group also competed in "Britain's Got Talent", where they came third in their semi-final. On a recent weekend, the suited men performed in front of a huge crowd at a shopping mall with gravity-defying stunts, human towers and infectious energy. Yasuko Yamaki, a 61-year-old housewife who learned about the group three months ago through social media, was there to see the spectacle. "In Japan, we're all going through a lot. Watching these salarymen putting in so much without giving up makes me cry," she said. "It's so inspirational."
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Homegrown veg, cheap substitutes: Japanese get creative to fight soaring food prices
By Mariko Katsumura and Kaori Kaneko TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese homemaker Kirina Mochizuki has always considered "okonomiyaki" savoury pancakes the ultimate comfort food: simple, satisfying and cheap. These days, though, it's a struggle to get the dish, a favourite among Hiroshima natives like herself, on the table. With the price of cabbage - a key ingredient - tripling recently, Mochizuki makes daily trips to the supermarket in search of discounted produce, or resorts to using dried seaweed. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. "I never imagined that okonomiyaki would become a delicacy," the mother-of-two said, adding she had also taken to re-growing leek in a glass of water using the usually discarded root base. With inflation taking hold in Japan after a generation of stagnant prices, many consumers are facing a similar plight, and looking for creative solutions to ease the pain. Data on Friday showed the average price of cabbage more than tripling this month in the capital, Tokyo, from a year ago. The Bank of Japan hiked interest rates to the highest in 17 years last week citing confidence in the outlook for salaries. But inflation-adjusted wages have fallen in 29 of the last 32 months while the Engel's coefficient, or the share of households' spending on food, hit a four-decade high last year. The price of a head of cabbage reaching 1,000 yen ($6.43) in Tokyo - roughly equivalent to an hourly wage - had already made headlines even before Friday's data, and the central bank noted last week that rice would probably stay expensive until the spring of 2026. Wholesale rice prices surged 60% in December from the same period a year earlier. As the price of agricultural products has risen, Japanese have also been eating less of them. The average intake of vegetables among Japanese adults fell to an all-time low in November, the most recent government data shows. Meanwhile, cheap "furikake", or dried condiments sprinkled on rice, are being used as a substitute for other dishes on the dinner table. Sales last year are expected to have reached a record high, according to research firm Fuji Keizai. "A 10-yen rise in our daily goods might seem small but it adds up," Mochizuki said, noting that she had already shaved what she could from other spending. Worried about the impact of rising prices on voter sentiment, the government last year compiled an economic stimulus package that includes cash payouts to low-income households. And in a first, the farm ministry is considering drawing up new rules to allow the government to sell stockpiled rice to agricultural cooperatives with the aim of bringing down retail prices. LIVING ROOM FARMING For YouTuber Kazuki Nakata, the recent price trends have proved to be a boon. Having started indoor farming at home as a hobby during the pandemic, the 37-year-old now has nearly 90,000 subscribers eager to learn how to stretch out store-bought vegetables and grow new ones in containers of water, without soil. "I've seen 4,500 new followers in the past two weeks," he told Reuters at his home in Kawasaki, outside Tokyo, this week. Nakata quit his job at an electronics retailer in 2023 to focus on the 47 types of vegetables he currently grows all over his house. Everything from shiso leaves, onions and daikon radish thrive in empty plastic bottles, beer cans and even the basket of his bicycle. Growing vegetables at home isn't without its challenges. Nakata's family has had to sleep without air conditioning on sweltering summer nights, and his wife complains that she can't breast-feed her newborn in the living room because the curtains need to be open to ensure the leafy greens get their sunlight. Still, with vegetable prices so high, Nakata says the sacrifices have paid off. He recently succeeded in cultivating a robust patch of cabbage leaves in a kitchen bowl using the inedible core and liquid fertilisers - the subject of his next video on YouTube. "Home gardening has really helped us slash our spending on food, so I want to share my findings," he said. ($1 = 155.5400 yen)
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Homegrown veg, cheap substitutes: Japanese get creative to fight soaring food prices
By Mariko Katsumura and Kaori Kaneko TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese homemaker Kirina Mochizuki has always considered "okonomiyaki" savoury pancakes the ultimate comfort food: simple, satisfying and cheap. These days, though, it's a struggle to get the dish, a favourite among Hiroshima natives like herself, on the table. With the price of cabbage - a key ingredient - tripling recently, Mochizuki makes daily trips to the supermarket in search of discounted produce, or resorts to using dried seaweed. "I never imagined that okonomiyaki would become a delicacy," the mother-of-two said, adding she had also taken to re-growing leek in a glass of water using the usually discarded root base. With inflation taking hold in Japan after a generation of stagnant prices, many consumers are facing a similar plight, and looking for creative solutions to ease the pain. Data on Friday showed the average price of cabbage more than tripling this month in the capital, Tokyo, from a year ago. The Bank of Japan hiked interest rates to the highest in 17 years last week citing confidence in the outlook for salaries. But inflation-adjusted wages have fallen in 29 of the last 32 months while the Engel's coefficient, or the share of households' spending on food, hit a four-decade high last year. The price of a head of cabbage reaching 1,000 yen ($6.43) in Tokyo - roughly equivalent to an hourly wage - had already made headlines even before Friday's data, and the central bank noted last week that rice would probably stay expensive until the spring of 2026. Wholesale rice prices surged 60% in December from the same period a year earlier. As the price of agricultural products has risen, Japanese have also been eating less of them. The average intake of vegetables among Japanese adults fell to an all-time low in November, the most recent government data shows. Meanwhile, cheap "furikake", or dried condiments sprinkled on rice, are being used as a substitute for other dishes on the dinner table. Sales last year are expected to have reached a record high, according to research firm Fuji Keizai. "A 10-yen rise in our daily goods might seem small but it adds up," Mochizuki said, noting that she had already shaved what she could from other spending. Worried about the impact of rising prices on voter sentiment, the government last year compiled an economic stimulus package that includes cash payouts to low-income households. And in a first, the farm ministry is considering drawing up new rules to allow the government to sell stockpiled rice to agricultural cooperatives with the aim of bringing down retail prices. LIVING ROOM FARMING For YouTuber Kazuki Nakata, the recent price trends have proved to be a boon. Having started indoor farming at home as a hobby during the pandemic, the 37-year-old now has nearly 90,000 subscribers eager to learn how to stretch out store-bought vegetables and grow new ones in containers of water, without soil. "I've seen 4,500 new followers in the past two weeks," he told Reuters at his home in Kawasaki, outside Tokyo, this week. Nakata quit his job at an electronics retailer in 2023 to focus on the 47 types of vegetables he currently grows all over his house. Everything from shiso leaves, onions and daikon radish thrive in empty plastic bottles, beer cans and even the basket of his bicycle. Growing vegetables at home isn't without its challenges. Nakata's family has had to sleep without air conditioning on sweltering summer nights, and his wife complains that she can't breast-feed her newborn in the living room because the curtains need to be open to ensure the leafy greens get their sunlight. Still, with vegetable prices so high, Nakata says the sacrifices have paid off. He recently succeeded in cultivating a robust patch of cabbage leaves in a kitchen bowl using the inedible core and liquid fertilisers - the subject of his next video on YouTube. "Home gardening has really helped us slash our spending on food, so I want to share my findings," he said. ($1 = 155.5400 yen)
