One of the funniest experiences I ever had was trying to explain the concept of “fat pride” to Japanese people. They were just completely baffled.

They have a law; it was so bizarre witnessing. . . in 2008, in Japan, obesity went up by 0.4 percent, and there was a massive national freakout. And they introduced a law called the Metabo Law. And the law says every company in Japan has to weigh its entire staff on a particular day. And if your weight has gone up, you have to make a plan with your employer to bring it down. And if as a company overall your staff’s weight has gone up, you are fined by the government.

I went to this company in Tokyo. You arrive at the company; it scans your face and says, “Hi, Bari, you walked 13,000 steps yesterday. You are 112th in the company’s ranking.” It might also say, “By the way, Suzy, who works at the desk next to you, hasn’t weighed herself in the last two weeks. Could you remind her?”