Tokyo: A yoga boom that first began in United States is growing fast in Japan with the world's largest yoga training organisation being built which shall offer courses in Tokyo's Ginza district.
In the one-month since Bikram Yoga, which teaches so called “hot yoga”, launched its first training programme, about 2,200 people have signed up for the classes.
"About 70 per cent of the learners are women in their 20s and 30s who hope to lose weight or get rid of stress," said Kenji Ehara, 36, from the business division of Bikram Yoga, which runs about 1,500 fitness studios in various countries.
Bikram Yoga plans to open four such studios in Tokyo and in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan, by the summer of this year. There are plans of establishing 10 new courses this year. Its Ginza studio is an answer to those found in India, which is the cradle of yoga.
The room temperature is set at 40 degrees Celsius and the humidity at 55 per cent. About 40 people in T-shirts, including several men, greet their instructor with bottles of water ready at their feet.
The distinctive feature of hot yoga is that its enthusiasts go through a series of 26 different poses,
including one called ''Garudasana (eagle pose),'' while practicing conscious breathing and perspiring heavily.
The creator of hot yoga, Bikram Choudhury, who is of Indian origin said that his discipline is more akin to body care than exercise during his recent visit to Japan
He added that it places only a small burden on joints and muscles because the high room temperature helps warm the body and increases the healing power of the body and mind as a result the blood circulation improves.
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