, a former Olympic Nordic-combined skier who became a lawmaker, partakes in Nordic walking with other participants during an event at Tokyo's Yoyogi Park in mid-November. KYODO PHOTO

Passersby were perplexed, but what they were viewing was Nordic walking, possibly the next fitness craze in Japan, where many middle-aged people are worried about "metabolic syndrome" -- a buzzword this year to describe excess fat around the middle that can cause lifestyle-related diseases.

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