A Look Abroad: Yoga in Tokyo

Today, yoga is very popular in Japan. Many people start practicing yoga in order to lose weight or because they are looking for relaxation. In my teaching, I have noticed again and again that after a few months, sometimes a few years, of a somewhat regular weekly practice (i.e. once or twice a week), the focus starts to shift. This is not the case for all yogis but some start to feel that there is an even greater benefit to gain from yoga practice than just physical fitness or a relaxed feeling in your body. It is at that point that they begin to really get into it.  

At the same time, one should be careful with general statements – in the end, there are as many different ways and motives to practice as there are active practitioners. For instance, many women who don’t go to work but stay at home during the day will practice yoga as a hobby and as a means of socializing with their neighborhood and friends. In contrast, those who have a hectic life, probably starting work at 8 a.m. and not finishing before 7 or 8 p.m., will have a different approach. They often turn to yoga for relaxation and stress management.

Yoga philosophy is not very common in Japan. Those who teach yoga or want to become teachers in the future usually know some basics about the Vedanta, but in your run-of-the-mill studio, you will not find any philosophy classes. This is not least due to the fact that there aren’t that many students interested in this aspect. What, for some reason or other, is quite popular, though, are Tibetan singing bowls events or classes like Aromatic Yoga. In contrast, singing mantras is often considered too “authentic” and also has a comparatively bad reputations because it reminds people of the Aum Sect and the attack on the Tokyo underground in the 1990s.

In my eyes, the main difference between practice in Germany and Japan is our physical shape. In Japan, many people are quite small and often skinny. Also, many of us have short legs and arms, so some postures are much easier for us to master than for European people. On the other hand, we find other positions quite challenging that Westerns are often more at ease with.

What would happen if you came to Tokyo and wanted to practice yoga there without speaking any Japanese? In general, I don’t see any real problems. Tokyo is such a big city and you can always find teachers from abroad. So if you are not able to understand Japanese, I recommend that you attend a yoga class by an English-speaking teacher. I have to admit that, as far as language skills are concerned, the Japanese are not as international as, for instance, people in Germany and you will encounter a lot of people in Japan who don’t speak any or only very little English. The language barrier might therefore indeed be a problem but apart from that I don’t see any pitfalls that you should make sure to avoid. Please simply be the way you are! Nevertheless, there are certain practice manners in Japan that might differ slightly from what you are used to and people will appreciate it when you respect them when practicing in a Japanese shala.

Japanese culture is based on Buddhism. The respect toward others as well as toward your teacher is very important. Put your hands together in front of your heart to show your respect and gratefulness to your teacher and try to create a good and harmonic atmosphere with everybody else in the room.

Here are two shalas I recommend in case you want to keep up or deepen your practice during your stay in Tokyo.