Japanese TV show produces baffling list of five household habits that will shorten your lifespan

It seems like we’re constantly being bombarded with tips and tricks about how to make our lives better or how to improve our quality of life. We’re always being told to change the way we eat, the way we sleep, include some daily physical activity, and re-organize our lives. Everyone has something different to say, but one thing they seem to have in common is the positive spin they put on their life improvements.

That’s not strictly true for Japanese television though. One recent program seemed to be taking a cue from the fear-based strategies of American TV, and spent an entire segment talking about habits in your household that are likely to decrease your lifespan.

Anyone who has turned their TV on during the morning hours knows that the talk shows that help us “get ready for the day” are usually filled with fluff pieces designed to grab our attention and keep us watching, despite us needing to run out the door to catch our trains or beat the morning traffic. They like to talk about current events and offer you great tips to improve some aspect of your life as long as you keep watching until they give you the information “in the next segment”. And really, how could you possibly turn off the TV when they tell you there are five things you’re doing in life that are reducing your time on earth?

Of all the bad things that are in the world, we were definitely curious about the top five lifestyle choices that led to a premature death — in Japan at least.

It's an awfully peculiar list. There’s nothing about pets, drinking, smoking, or even a single mention about what kind of food you shouldn’t be eating. The list has some common sense items on it, but do they really contribute to a premature death?

If you have a lot of things in your room, that probably means you are valuing “things” over “people”, so while you can live a long and happy life with plenty of stuff, none of that stuff is going to love you back, especially if the SoftBank robot, Pepper is in your room. As far as not letting people into your room, there wasn’t any real explanation that accompanied the list, but it might have something to do with human contact again. Humans are naturally social beings, so just interacting with your fellow human beings helps you cope with stresses in life. Besides, if you spend all your effort keeping people out, it’s likely you’ll have less energy for staying alive.

The third point seems like a no brainer, there are the obvious hygienic benefits of not living in garbage, but there is something a little depressing about looking around and seeing a room full of discarded food containers. The fourth one seems like common sense for everyone who isn’t a vampire. A little vitamin D goes a long way towards keeping a happy disposition. Besides, if you keep your blackout curtains closed all day, you might lose track of whether it’s morning or night…and die a sudden death!

The final point could go either way depending on the person. Some people have a strained relationship with their parents and others count their parents as one of their best pillars of support, so keeping in touch with your parents may increase or decrease your levels of stress.

Japanese Internet users had their own comments about the list, saying:

“Yep, that’s me.” “I’m only 26, but these all pertain to me.” “What? Drinking and smoking are the worst.” “It’d be dangerous if you do all this plus drink and smoke.” “I think the top five should be: drinking, smoking, the food you eat, labor environment, and luck.” “You could also say these are the rooms of people who want to die early.”

Seems like the Japanese audience isn’t too concerned about these “life threatening” factors, and reading over the list again, you have to wonder if these are merely coincidences or actual reasons that contribute to a premature death. Which of these lifestyle choices do you fall victim to?

Source: Golden Times

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