"Fitness clubs have become like hallowed ground for those with latent desires to
play around or with lecherous thoughts. They're places where people move around
and build up a sweat, then can shower and do their make-up at the same place
once they've finished," Sanae Kameyama, a journalist specializing in women's
issues, tells Shukan Post. "What that means is that exercise gives them an
excuse for having had a shower before they go home to their husbands and hide
the proof of them playing around."
According to the 2007 Leisure White Paper, Japan's fitness industry registered
growth in 2006 for the fourth consecutive year.
"The 4.18 million registered members of fitness clubs in 2006 was the highest
number ever," a fitness industry source says. "And the main reason for the
growth was that daytime yoga and Pilates classes are really popular with women.
Over half the entire membership is made up of women from their 30s to 60s."
Booming business is also proving to be fertile ground for monkey business. A
35-year-old housewife became involved in an extramarital affair with a man she
met at her fitness club. Though their relationship began innocently enough as
they helped each other exercise, their workout gradually become more wanton and
was consummated one afternoon following a liquid lunch.
"I pretended to be drunk, so that made it easy for me to go along when he
suggested we head to a hotel," she tells Shukan Post. "He still thinks he
seduced me, but actually it was the other way around. Everything went just as I
had planned."
Another 40-year-old housewife also used her health club to engage in a "fitness
fling," starting off with a 45-year-old trading company employee she met while
working out. In a sexless marriage, the affair gave her back her confidence and
inspired her to bigger things.
"With more exercise, my body tone really improved and I was amazed at how much
younger I looked," she says. "Soon other guys were starting to get attracted to
me as well."
She notes that she did not disappoint those who had showed interest in her and
now maintains her own harem of hunks.
Not all housewives into daily fitness club workouts are playing around, but the
exercise environment apparently fosters carnal urges, latent or otherwise.
"Those who use fitness clubs usually have a decent amount of money and a strong
sense of self. There are few people who want to lose that, but that actually
makes it easier for them to pursue a relationship with no ties attached,"
clinical psychologist Hiroshi Yahata tells Shukan Post. "Working out and
building up a sweat together helps people build bonds. And people are moving
around while they're exposing a lot of flesh, so there is plenty of visual
stimulation going on, too. Fitness clubs definitely provide an environment with
lots of enticements."
Copyright 1999-2007, Mainchi Daily. Used with permission. All rights
reserved. Ryann Connell is a Staff Writer and Senior Desk Editor for the
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