Photo/Illutration Front cover of the book "Subarashii Jintai" (Amazing human body)

Taking my temperature has been my daily ritual since almost two years ago.

It reconfirms the obvious--that I am a warm-blooded animal. And I find it even touching that my body maintains a stable temperature of around 36 degrees.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has also encouraged self-examination of my health. How does my throat feel? Is my sense of smell OK?

I recently came across a book authored by Dr. Takehito Yamamoto. Titled "Subarashii Jintai" (Amazing human body), it taught me about the most intricate mechanism inherent in our instinctive body movements.

For instance, Yamamoto asks his readers to give a side-to-side jiggle to the book they are reading. This would make reading impossible.

But what if they jiggled their head instead? This way, reading should be a great deal easier.

That's because an organ, located deep inside the ear, senses that the head is moving, and causes the eyeballs to rotate in the opposite direction. The mechanism functions infinitely better than any camera's anti-shake feature.

I apologize for being indelicate, but flatulence is apparently an awesome deed.

Our ability to break wind owes entirely to the anus's ability to instantly determine whether the substance approaching it is a solid or a gas and react accordingly.

Also remarkable is the muscle mechanism that enables us to move our legs and arms without feeling their weight: A leg weighs as much as about 10 kilograms, and an arm, 4 to 5 kg.

We make conscious choices when going somewhere or meeting someone. But our every movement is made possible by body parts that function without our awareness.

Thinking about this makes me want to lovingly caress various parts of my body.

The pandemic must have forced some people to postpone their comprehensive medical checks. This means they may not have been as mindful of their health as they thought.

I, for one, have just resolved to get myself checked next year.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 20

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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