are warm-up calisthenics performed to music and guidance from radio broadcasts. Originating from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, they are popular in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and parts of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

United States

The idea for radio broadcast calisthenics came from "setting-up exercises" broadcast in US radio stations as early as 1923 in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

(in WGI). The longest-lasting of these setting-up exercise broadcasts was sponsored by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (now

MetLife MetLife, Inc. is the Holding company, holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, Annuity (US financial produ ...

), which sponsored the setting-up exercise broadcasts in WEAF in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

which premiered in April 1925. The MetLife-sponsored program—officially known as the ''Metropolitan Life Health Exercises'' but later known as the "Tower Health Exercises", after the tower where the exercises were broadcast from—was also broadcast in WCAP in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and WEEI in

, among others.

Japan

In Japan, radio calisthenics are broadcast to music on public

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

radio and television early in the

morning Morning is either the period from sunrise to noon, or the period from midnight to noon. In the first definition it is preceded by the twilight period of dawn, and there are no exact times for when morning begins (also true of evening and nigh ...

, and is a rare example of a sponsored program in the NHK (the sponsor being the Japan Post Insurance Co.). ''Rajio taisō'' were introduced to Japan in 1928 as a commemoration of the enthronement of Emperor

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

; an employee of the Japanese postal insurance division (predecessor to the Japan Post Insurance Co.)—originally dispatched to MetLife to study the insurance system in the US—found out of the Tower Health Exercises and immediately brought samples of the exercises from MetLife back to Japan. The exercises were widely used to improve the overall health of the Japanese soldiers both at home and abroad during the 1930s and 1940s. The exercises were introduced to several other pacific nations, including Taiwan,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

during Japan's colonization period. After Japan's defeat in 1945, the broadcasts were banned by the occupying powers for being too militaristic in nature. After several rewrites to the exercise routine, it was reintroduced by NHK radio in 1951 with the support of the education ministry, health ministry, the Japan Gymnastic Association and the Japan Recreation Association. ''Radio taisō'' is still used at schools as a warm up for physical education classes and during

sports day Sports Day (British English & Canadian English), field days (American English), or play days (Canadian English) are events staged by many schools and offices in which people participate in competitive sporting activities, often with the aim of w ...

activities. It is also implemented by some companies as a way of building morale and a sense of group unity, as well as to raise energy levels and encourage good health.

China

China also has such calisthenics. They have been mandatory in some regions since 2010. Originally they were introduced by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

in 1951 but the broadcasts are now run by the General Administration of Sport of China.

Great Britain

In December 1939, the BBC introduced 10 minute radio calisthenic programmes. They were titled 'Up in the Morning Early' and were broadcast on the Home Service at 7:35 Monday to Saturday. Monday, Wednesday and Friday's programmes were aimed at men and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday's for women.

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