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School lunch centred on bread and milk, 1951.
in Occupied Areas (garioa). The reliance on bread was determined less by
its nutritional qualities and more by the fact that the us government was
eager to dispose of the wheat flour surplus from the American market. 8
Ironically, it was a similar reason – the overproduction of rice –
that prompted the Japanese government in 1976 to direct schools to start
using rice in their lunches. While by the 1970s rice production had flourished
under the government’s protectionist policy (both farmland and
rice production being subsidized), the demand for it steadily decreased.
Daily consumption of rice dropped from 360 grams per person in 1960
to 170 grams in 1996, compelling the government to continue to store huge
quantities of surplus rice. 9
This decline in rice consumption in Japan was not the result of a shift
from rice-centred to bread-centred diet. Rather, it was a marker of the
rising standard of living. Along with the rapid increase in the consumption
of meat (see chapter Six), the consumption of fats and oils nearly tripled
between the early 1950s and ’60s. 10 In other words, the position of side
dishes was shifting from that of complementing the rice-based meal to that
of the centre of the meal, accompanied by rice. For example, the proportion
of household expenditure for staple foods declined from 22.2 to 13.1 per cent
over the decade 1965–75, whereas those of non-staple foods increased from
49.6 to 52.3 per cent. 11 The Japanese ate less rice, because they could now
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