4 ms·

This is for Japan, doesn't they already eat a lot better than the Western world, that is, less red meat, less processed foods, more high oily fish etc.?

• mikekchar 10y ago
  In my experience, this is generally true, but the Japanese diet is changing rapidly. I came to Japan almost 10 years ago and I remember seeing quite traditional lunch boxes (called bento) in the convenience stores. Now everything is deep fried, or comes with fairly large portions of meat. Unless you go to a specialised bento store, it's pretty difficult to get a bento with a piece of fish, vegetables and rice. Also, with the reduced restrictions on imports, I've seen a veritable explosion of steak restaurants and yaki niku places (Korean barbeque). Now that they can get cheap pork from Canada and cheap beef from Australia, meat has gotten very popular. The meat sections of the grocery stores in my area are about the same size as the fish section. And even the small town I live in has the same number of butchers as they do specialty fish stores. Having said that, it's still not difficult to eat a traditional Japanese diet and certainly older people tend to eat that way. Not sure what will happen in the next generation or two, as the culture is shifting (to my eyes, anyway). It may be for the best, though, as global fish stocks are shrinking in an alarming way.
• saryant 10y ago
  Having seen the giant ice cream-stuffed crepes they sell in Harajuku, I'm not sure how true that is anymore...