From the S&S archives:
Jack La Lanne in Tokyo: Meet a one-man health department

TOKYO — Watch out girls!

Jack La Lanne, the American fitness wonder who for the last 20 years has entertained 15 million women out of a ton of excess fat each day, is in town for a series of appearances at a local fitness center.

Brought to Japan by Clark Hatch, owner and director of the Clark Hatch Physical Fitness Center, La Lanne in addition to guest appearances, hopes to kick off promotion of his long line of health foods and exercising aids, and lend his fitness expertise to the Japanese people.

La Lanne said in a press conference here Friday morning that people in a city the size of Tokyo don't get out enough and end up abusing the body through lack of physical activity.

"I have spent years," he said, "developing exercises for women of all ages — young girls, expectant mothers, old women and the overweight.

"Exercise," he continued, "is the most important thing in life, more so than eating and sleeping."

Hatch and La Lanne had been corresponding for the last six months, and both concluded that Japan (primarily Tokyo) could make good use of a health product line. There had also been talk of possibly bringing La Lanne's weekly television show so popular in the U.S. to Tokyo and dubbing it in Japanese.

Having studied health and the effects of exercise on the human body for over 40 years, La Lanne explained that in all big cities the body must contend with unnatural stress and strain, including air and water pollution.

"These agents enter the body in many ways and dissipate our vitamin supply. These vitamins are fuel to the body like gasoline is to an engine.

"If you put the right fuel in the human machine, you will feel better, look sexier and have a much brighter outlook on the things around you."

As an example, La Lanne indicated that the lack of vitamin B complex could well be the reason for a person's short temper or their lack of interest in simple everyday things.

The author, television personality, health expert is now 56, but is said to have the physical makeup of a 30 year old man.

With the strength of Samson and the flair of Houdini, La Lanne has in the past years dazzled audiences with such feats as:

Swimming from Alcatraz to Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco wearing hand-cuffs; swimming the treacherous, mile-wide Golden Gate Channel towing a 2,500-pound cabin cruiser and setting a record of 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes on "You Asked for It" with Art Baker.

Commenting on alcohol and the body, he said that "for years I have been trying to talk my friends, out of drinking straight spirits. It dissipates the B complex.

"If you want to drink, drink wine. It is one of the finest foods on earth-completely natural."

Scheduled to stay until Thursday, La Lanne will be at Clark Hatch's Swedish Health Center for Ladies in Roppongi from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Monday; at his fitness center for men in the Azabu Towers, Mamiana, Minato-ku from 12 to 1 p.m. on Monday and again on Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.