Fitness centers cashing in on hula

A number of Japanese fitness centers have decided to go Hawaiian and offer courses on hula dancing, fanned by growing popularity brought about by the box-office success of the film "Hula Girl."

Tipness Ltd. offers hula lessons at its 33 fitness clubs. The number of people taking lessons totaled about 830 in 2004 but jumped to about 2,200 last year. It expects the number to rise further this year.

The film, based on a friendship between a hula teacher and young women in a former coal-mining town in Fukushima Prefecture, was released last year and became a hit.

About 50 women mostly in their 30s to 60s go to Tipness' fitness club in Tokyo's Nishishinjuku every Friday for a 75-minute lesson, including basic movements and a drill on dancing postures, set to Hawaiian music.

Instructor Yayoi Iida said balanced left and right body motions are the basics of the popular Hawaiian dance. Students use the lower half of their bodies to match the rhythms, and use upper body movements to express meaning. They appear relaxed, but the whole action is surprisingly strenuous.

"The human body is symmetrical on the left and right sides, but people in modern society do not keep a balance in left and right motions," she said. "They can keep that balance by dancing."

The hula boom is apparently not only due to the women's desire to be more physically active but also to look attractive and experience a bit of the island lifestyle.

Many of the women show up for lessons in Hawaiian-style "pau" skirts in vivid colors and T-shirts. Some have decorations in their hair.

"My feet have really been regaining strength," said a woman in her 60s who has been going to the Nishishinjuku fitness club since spring. "And of course I also enjoy wearing these pretty clothes."

The number of specialty stores featuring pau skirts along with other Hawaiian clothing and items is on the rise. Sekino Racing Sports Inc. of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, opened its 21st Hula Hawaii retail outlet in April in a Nagoya shopping center.

Since opening its first store in Kamakura in 2001, Sekino now operates others in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Osaka, Fukuoka and Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, in addition to Nagoya. It said it gets requests from all parts of the country to open new branches. Pau skirts are priced at ¥8,000 and up. Most of the buyers are women in their 20s to 40s.

Sportswear maker Goldwin Inc. started selling hula wear last year under the brand name Dancekin. For this summer's line, the company has already received orders worth about ¥65 million. compared with ¥40 million in sales last year.