5 Days of Japanese School Lunch | Food, Nutrition & Culture

[Music] in this video we'll look at kyushoku the japanese public school lunch system and we'll see that the food is not just about eating but that is a vital part of the children's education here in japan japanese school lunches became more common at public schools after the second world war but the 1954 school lunch law made school lunch a nationwide program some schools prepare the lunches at the school but most have a separate school lunch center where lunch is prepared and delivered to the various schools in the city when the food arrives it is given over to the school lunch staff and then distributed to each class on lunch carts at lunchtime teachers and student groups prepare and serve the food to their classmates sometimes they're up to 40 students in a class who eat lunch together in their classroom with the teacher students receive a detailed monthly menu showing all the ingredients broken down into three nutritional categories the japanese kanji character for red indicates protein green for vitamins and minerals and yellow for carbohydrates the calorie protein and fat content are also shown for each meal students do a daily broadcast talking about the menu's special features such as seasonal foods and food specific cultural events day one explains setsubun which ushers in the first days of spring according to the old japanese lunar calendar and helps bring luck for the new season the lunch menu varies from city to city and region but all have the same goal of providing a healthy meal and educating the children about food culture and nutrition elementary education in japan starts in the first grade at age six and finishes in the sixth grade at 12 years old there is some variation in cost generally it's 250 yen per meal and 200 yen without milk on the opposite side of the menu there is further educational information for instance the various uses of the soybean in japanese cooking and how to use chopsticks properly yes even japanese need to learn how to use chopsticks [Music] after lunch the empty trays and utensils are sent back on the carts and returned to the school lunch center students do their daily cleaning duties everything from the classroom hallways gym and bathrooms are cleaned by the students after that it's time to head out to the playground and play a lot of learning takes place during lunch time in japan and is one of the best aspects of the japanese elementary school system thank you for watching please like subscribe and feel free to comment hello

Channel: Japan Experiences

Views: 13,716

Keywords: japanese school lunches, japanese school lunch program, japanese food, japanese education, japanese kyushoku

Id: yQUVLtDk6sk

Length: 3min 57sec (237 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 06 2021