By 1. You can’t be an obese nurse in Japan.
If you’re considering moving to Japan to try your hand at nursing, you may want to check if foreigners are included in the two-year-old law that bans the Japanese from being fat. In 2008, the Japanese government decreed that its citizens had to slim down to reduce the chances of developing lifestyle-related diseases, such as metabolic syndrome—or metabo, as they call it there.
The rules are pretty strict, and the government did come under fire from medical experts who said the mandated maximum allowable waist size for men was too strict. Those who fail their waist measurement test must lose weight. If they haven’t lost weight within three months, they are given dieting guidance. If they’re still not successful after six months, they receive “re-education.”
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