Naoki Go carefully positions his feet on the ground, slowly lifts both arms, then shuffles as if preparing to shoulder a huge imaginary weight.
In the next instant, he flexes his biceps. The muscles on each arm rise like loaves in an oven. The veins strain against the skin as if ready to burst, and Go attempts to smile through a grimace of concentration. He holds the pose for several seconds, his muscles flaring and bulging.
Lined up alongside him on the stage at Sunpian Kawasaki are 11 other bodybuilders all trying to qualify from the first round of the annual Japan Open. The seven judges sitting in the front row must whittle the initial field of 68 down to 20, evaluating their bodies as they run through a series of four preset poses.