Fitness, Tokyo style: Oxygen pod, detox foot bath and vibration machine

To get some fresh oxygen in Tokyo, or rid yourself of toxins, or lose some of that holiday flab, you could hop on a train to the countryside, go on a macrobiotic diet, or simply get some exercise.

Or, you can go to Oxygen Refreshing Salon O2 Paradise in Shimbashi to lie in an oxygen pod, get a detox foot spa, or ride a fat-burning vibration machine.


Our session started out with a foot bath, which my friend and I were told contained negative ions that would strain our bodily toxins from the bottom of our feet.

After about 10 minutes of immersing, the water in my foot bath started turning yellow and foamy -- I had to stop watching. I think I saw black specks too, which the spa worker said were preservatives that had been stuck in my body.

Then we went for a ride on the vibration machine, or "Buru Buru Machine" in Japanese, which was like a treadmill that shakes. Ten minutes of being shaken on the machine burns as much fat as running for an hour, the spa worker said.

Our session ended with 60 minutes in an oxygen pod, a plastic capsule that gets filled with oxygen and is supposed to penetrate to your organs and make you younger (and taller, because the air gets between the sections of your spine, we were told).


The problem with my pod was that it smelt like the inside of a new car -- it must have been the rubber tubes the oxygen traveled through. I also got bored looking at the inner plastic lining and wished I had brought a good book.

My friend said she almost suffocated because it was too tight and hot. "I felt like a foot inside a ski boot," she said.

Still, we did each get about 5 mm taller.

Verdict: next week, we're planning a trip out of Tokyo to get some real oxygen.

Photos from Oxygen Refreshing Salon O2 Paradise