The emphasis on fresh high-quality food made me wonder if that sort of food is more satisfying (and filling) than what the author sees in American food. Does eating poor quality food leave you hungry? (Also, consider people living in “grocery deserts” who subsist on large amounts of fast food. Their obesity rates are very high.)
I liked the article a lot and it made many great points. Especially about school lunch and public transportation allowing for a more active, therefore healthy, society. However, when I visited I noticed vegetables are not incredibly common, and those you find are not diverse. Dishes are rice heavy, and the vegetables are mostly varieties of cucumbers and seaweed. A friend of mine, who lived in Tokyo for a few years, confirmed my observation and mentioned it’s thought to be a cause of persistent dental issues in Japan. Don’t have a source or anything for that, but thought it might be interesting to mention. I think it greatly depends on where you live. In California, I have access to a huge variety of vegetables and many farmer’s markets throughout the week I can attend. I imagine that i am an outlier though, and many areas have access to very few vegetable varieties. Food deserts are a very real thing and a very real problem. I’m mostly just musing, but I think I’m mentioning this because there is a trend in spaces like this to idolize Japan, and reality is much more nuanced than “Japan is perfect.”
From what I remember when I lived in Japan vegetables weren’t a problem as much as fruit was. They were either seasonal, expensive, or both. Also the fattier, red meats could be difficult to find (things like pure ground beef was uncommon and was commonly found as a beef/pork hybrid).
And yes, I would imagine public transportation (or just having to walk/ride a bike) is a huge boon to overall health levels.