A lunchtime lesson in Japan’s “Shokuiku”: More than just a meal

It’s around 12 p.m. at an elementary school in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The classroom hums with quiet excitement as students slip on white smocks and matching caps.

They form teams, moving purposefully between the lunch cart and the rows of desks. This is learning, not just a lunch break. There is no cafeteria where lunch is served here. It is not bought from a vending machine.
The school lunch, or kyshoku, is a shared ritual and a nutrition lesson in Japan. Through interactions with other people, it promotes a sense of responsibility and care for others. Additionally, it is an essential component of the Japanese food and nutrition education known as “Shokuiku.”

What is Shokuiku?

Shokuiku (食育) is more than nutrition education. Legally defined by Japan’s 2005 Basic Act on Shokuiku, it is the cultivation of knowledge, skills, and attitudes to make sound dietary choices, sustain health, and connect with food’s cultural and social meanings.

It integrates health, moral, and physical education, and is taught not just in textbooks—but through practice and experiences.

A lesson during lunch

Today’s menu in the classroom includes chestnut rice, salt-grilled mackerel, pickled fried eggplant, and Takeda Farm’s potato miso soup. A carton of milk completes the tray. The ingredients are locally sourced, the flavors traditional.

The students who serve the meal are called kyūshoku tōban – lunch duty leaders. They provide their classmates with precision, kindness, and care. A student announces, “Let’s say thank you to the people who prepared our food,” as soon as everyone has received their tray. After that, everyone says, “Itadakimasu!” in unison, a customary expression of gratitude. A registered dietitian explains the origins of the mackerel, why miso is fermented, and why chestnuts are served today as they eat. Curiousness, cultural pride, and nutritional literacy all emerge from the meal.

Behind the scenes: how the system works

The school lunch program in Japan is the result of decades of intersectoral policymaking led by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology in conjunction with health, agriculture, and local government. It reaches nearly all public elementary and junior high school students in the nation. Licensing dietitians carefully craft meals to meet specific nutritional requirements for schoolchildren. Parents are required to pay a monthly fee, which is subsidized for families with low incomes. However, the policy emphasizes universal provision rather than targeted welfare. Importantly, the meals are shared in the classroom, promoting equality and inclusion. There is no child left behind.

Why it’s important

This strategy focuses not only on food but also on developing habits, fostering empathy, and teaching compassion for others. School lunch is recognized as a pedagogical opportunity in a nation where childhood obesity rates are among the lowest in the OECD and where life expectancy indicators consistently rank high. Shokuiku also addresses broader societal challenges: food waste, environmental sustainability, and declining agricultural ties.

Students often visit local farms or engage in school gardens, closing the loop between production and consumption-“Chisan-Chisho (local products, local consumption)”.

Lessons for the world

School meals are viewed as a safety net in many nations, a means of boosting nutrition and enrollment in low-income settings. Japan’s example adds a complementary perspective: school meals as education, embedded in the daily rhythm of learning, supporting not just physical growth but social and ethical development.
While shokuiku’s tenets can be applied elsewhere, Japan’s infrastructure and policies are sound. In point of fact, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is already providing technical assistance to Mongolia, Indonesia, and Malaysia in order to implement a portion of this strategy in a variety of cultural contexts. A lasting lesson and the final bell Lunch is nearly over in the classroom. Students stack the trays neatly. “Gochissama deshita!”, or “Thank you for the meal!”, is the final chorus. It’s not an afterthought. It’s a lesson on gratitude, health, and shared responsibility.

In Japan, school lunch is more than just a meal. It’s a mirror of values, a tool for lifelong health, and a quiet revolution in how we educate children—not just what to eat, but how to live.