Japan’s Young People Are Eating Like Nutrition Is an Optional Subscription
Apparently, the generation raised in one of the world’s most celebrated food cultures has decided that a balanced diet is something their grandparents can worry about. There are certain things I expect Japan to be exceptionally good at. Trains arriving on time, vending machines appearing in places where vending machines have no business existing, and food that looks like someone spent three hours arranging it with surgical instruments. Japan has cultivated an international reputation for culinary precision, balanced meals, and the kind of attention to detail that makes the average American drive-through experience look like a hostage negotiation. So imagine my amusement when I came across a report announcing that the nutritional quality of diets in Japan is actually poorest among teenagers and young adults. Apparently, somewhere between generations of carefully prepared meals and the invention of convenience-store fried chicken, Japan's younger population decided that nutritional r...