Tokyo’s School Lunchers Face a Food Price Frenzy
For months now, Kazumi Sato, the nutrition whiz at Senju Aoba Junior High in eastern Tokyo, has been juggling grocery bill alerts like a chess grandmaster. The rising cost of groceries keeps her on her toes, but Aoba’s kitchen still needs to keep lunch prices affordable for families who’re already feeling the squeeze.
Balancing Budget and Taste
- “I try to toss in seasonal fruit once or twice a month,” Sato confides, “but it’s a tough gig to do it all the time.”
- To keep costs low, she swaps pricey fresh fruit for jelly or a tiny slice of handmade cake.
- Bean sprouts have become the new hero of the menu—cheap, crunchy, and seemingly endless.
- Yet she frets, “I don’t want the kids to think we’re serving them a sad meal.”
Inflation Gets Personal
Japan’s inflation is a headline topic, but for families in the black and blue streets of Adachi Ward, the impact hits home. A single 18‑liter can of cooking oil now costs about 1,750 yen more than last year, onions have doubled in price, and the government’s nutrition standards leave no slack for clever tweaks.
With 334 yen for lunch and 303 yen paid by families, the temptation to slash nutrient content is high. Watching students return from summer break a bit thinner has pushed officials to keep the machines running.
Government Relief, Yet Uncertainty Lingers
The April relief package supplies schools with extra funding to absorb the price hikes. Adachi Ward plans to use this silver lining plus its own budget to keep the cost directly on the school plates. Still, Sato worries as the rainy season ends—shortfall in greens could hit the menu hard. “What will fall prices look like?” she asks, warily looking ahead to the year’s last quarter.
For the kids, the goal remains simple: a hearty, tasty lunch that doesn’t break the piggy bank.
