Recently, there have been rumors that Mizumoto, the manager of Kubokan, disappears in the direction of Kabukicho—the opposite way from Shin-Okubo Station—after work, and that is indeed true.
However, he’s not exactly wandering around Shinjuku♡ at night. He’s walking back to Shinjuku Station to get some exercise.
What prompted him to start was the results of his health checkup last fall.
I ended up with a whole string of “C” ratings across various indicators linked to the risk of lifestyle-related diseases—blood pressure, cholesterol, uric acid levels, and so on.
Up until then, I’d been the picture of health. My checkup results had always been straight A’s. But around the time I passed my mid-50s, I started getting the occasional “B” rating, and now, with 60 just around the corner, the “C” ratings have skyrocketed.
But I don’t actually feel unwell at all. Even with this parade of “C” ratings, I have absolutely no symptoms. If anything, I’m full of energy. However, when I looked into it, I found out that people like me are actually the most dangerous. These are the guys who played sports when they were young and are a bit overconfident about their physical fitness. They don’t worry even when their checkups flag issues, and they don’t change their lifestyle habits. Apparently, these “overconfident middle-aged guys” have a high probability of suddenly dropping dead (￣□￣；)!!
That’s exactly me!! I don’t think I’m ready to be called to heaven just yet… So, I made a big decision. I hadn’t done any real exercise for over 30 years, but last fall, I started walking from my shop in Shin-Okubo to Shinjuku Station on my way home from work. Since the shortest route is actually quite close, I take a detour of about 3 kilometers three times a week. At first, even walking gave me terrible muscle soreness, and it took me over 30 minutes to walk 3 kilometers, but lately I’ve been able to get there in 20 minutes.By the way, walking 3 kilometers in 20 minutes is actually pretty fast. It feels like I’m zooming past the people walking ahead of me. It’s a brisk walk.
(↑ I even bought a pair of sneakers for the first time in 20 years just for this walking routine.)
It’s been about five months since I started, but to be honest, I haven’t really felt any tangible changes like my body feeling lighter or my lower back pain going away. Since I wasn’t in bad shape to begin with, maybe that’s just how it goes. On the flip side, dinner tastes so good after I exercise that I end up overeating. (That’s no good.)
Anyway, consistency is key. My goal is to have zero “C” ratings on my health checkup this fall!
If you see an older guy power-walking down Ome Kaido at night, it might be me.
Kubokan Mizumoto
