Obesity is a strange thing in Japan. It is hailed as being the core of the sport of Sumo wrestling and yet it is treated as something shameful anywhere outside of that. Japan has always been seen as having some of the healthiest food, if not the healthiest food in the world, but the focus is usually on the traditional low-fat fish, rice and seaweed dishes. Japan is becoming more westernized and many people are starting to eat meat more often. The McDonald's fast food chain has finally linked up throughout Japan and has been one obvious cause in regards to the rise of obesity. The intake of animal fat and a protein has grown exponentially for the past few decades alone. Obesity has now become a public health problem as it is becoming more and more prevalent. This disease is spreading with an ageist nature, affecting both young and old. Where diet is not an issue, studies show that there could be a strong connection between weight gain and stress. Stress often becomes the substitute of poor diet, when people are constantly subject to it in the workplace. Ironically, the Japanese men teetering on the edge of overweight and obesity are faced with the possibility of financial punishment if their waste size exceeds 33.5 inches and if women exceed 35.4 inches. I feel that this seems like a very harsh punishment seeing as obesity is not always something caused by gluttony and laziness. Those who can show proof that their condition is a cause of their obesity, they will be given what is known as "dieting guidance" which intends to help progress the patient towards significant weight loss. One problem is waiting lines are forming due to the increasing number of people being given these programs. I know that various groups have formed to actually study obesity and better understand ways to fight it. A famous group known as Japan Society for the Study of Obesity a.k.a JASSO was the first comprehensive obesity research group sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture way back in 1977. This group through intense medical studies are developing anti-obesity drugs. Some companies are frequently having their employees' body fat measured. As a side note, I feel that they could not only help out America with its even more serious obesity problem; they could also make a large profit from marketing these drugs to Americans. Who knows, these anti-obesity drugs could prove to be a more effective and less costly than weight loss surgery.