Hunger in Japan

Hunger in Japan

01
On May 29, 2026May 29, 2026By In BlogTags , ,

May 28, 2026

By Derek Fiorenza

Our hunger tour around the world brings us to Japan, the intersection of ancient traditions and futuristic innovations.  When preparing for this article, I learned that Japan’s history spans archipelago prehistoric peoples to the evolution of the twentieth century modern day Japan.  We will thoughtfully summarize Japanese history, discuss hunger and food insecurity, and then conclude with information on the Blue Zone diet.

Japanese History

According to Japan Endless Discovery, people have lived in Japan at least 130,000 years dating back to the Primitive/Prehistoric Period (ca. 130,000 BCE – ca. 300 CE).  The Japan Cultural Expo 2.0 shared the various historical periods with information for Japan:

  1. Jōmon period (ca. 13,000 BC – )
    1. During this time, people lived by hunting, gathering, and fishing. 
    1. Pottery also began to emerge
  2. Yayoi period (ca. 900 BC – )
    1. This was the advent of an agrarian society, with wet rice farming becoming popularized
      1. Agrarian society refers to a community or civilization whose economy is built on the production, maintenance, and management of crops and farmland.
  3. Kofun period (ca. 250 –)
    1. This was a period of political unification
  4. Nara period (ca. 710 –)
    1. The creation of a centralized state occurs built on the ritsuryo legal system (律令) naming Heijo-kyo (nara) the capital
      1. ritsuryo legal system (律令) was built on Confucianism and Chinese Legalism
  5. Heian period (ca. 794 –)
    1. The changing of the guard with power shifting from the Emperor and aristocrats to the warrior class
    1. The capital also moved to Heian-kyo (Kyoto)
  6. Kamakura period (ca. 1190 – )
    1. The real power is held by a shogunate government located in Kamakura (eastern Japan)
      1. The shogunate government was known as a hereditary military dictatorship
  7. Muromachi period (ca. 1333 – )
    1. Traiditional authorities ar challenged by lower-ranking clans and the Shogunate government relocates to Kyoto
  8. Azuchi–Momoyama period (ca. 1573 – )
    1. During this period, Japan unifies and develops a strong training relationship with Europe
    1. The capital moves to Azuchi (Shiga Prefecture) and Fushimi (Kyoto)
  9. Edoperiod (ca. 1603 – )
    1. During this time, a feudal system is established with the shogun being the leader
    1. Japan practices more of an isolationist policy and enjoys a period of peace for over 200 years
    1. The capital is in Edo (Tokyo)
  10. Modern/Present Day (ca. 1868 – )
    1. Tokyo is the capital, with a centralized state created by the new Meiji government

With our backdrop in place, we shift our attention to food insecurity and hunger in Japan, and they are a result of both micro and macro issues.  “Shoku no hinkon” (食の貧困), which stands for the Japanese sociological term for “Food Poverty”.  We will review “Food Poverty” in Japan with some important hunger statistics and then delve into the causes of Food Insecurity, and conclude with a summary of Japan’s place in the world as a “Blue Zone”.

Hunger Stats in Japan 

According to the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), the relative poverty rate is 15.4%.  This represents around 20 million Japanese people that live below the relative poverty threshold.  The relative poverty threshold is classified as individuals earning less than 50% of the national median disposable income. 

Approximately 44.5% of single-parent households live in relative poverty.  The unfortunate irony is that Japan has the highest single-parent employment rate at 86% in the developing world, yet so many of these single-parent households are struggling mightily. 

Over 90% of low-income families have indicated that growing price inflation has made living much more difficult leaving less resources to purchase enough food for their children.  In schools, 54.5% of disadvantaged families state that their children are experiencing food insufficiency.    Around 60% of low-income families have had to reduce or completely stop buying core food staples such as rice. Lastly, the national food self-sufficiency rate is currently at 38%, which on a macroeconomic scale, 5.5% of the population experience moderate-to-severe food insecurity. 

Causes of Food Insecurity in Japan

According to an article from Borgen Project, a 501©(3) non-profit organization, there were seven contributing factors to the hunger issue. 

  • Almost 16% of two-parent households, and 32% of single-parent households struggle financially to provide enough food for their children.  One of the non-profit organizations helping with childhood hunger in Japan is Second Harvest, as they are serving 100 families.
  • Japan only produces around 39% of the country’s overall food demand, giving them the distinction of having the lowest food self-sufficiency ratio among all major developed countries.  For comparison, Britain produces 70% of the food they consume and France produces 120% of what they need for their population.  This places Japan in precarious position as they are reliant on food imports and stable supply chains for over 60% of their needs.
  • The traditional diet for Japan is pescetarian (primarily plant-based, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, etc.) but has shifted to favor a high protein and high fat “Western Diet”.  This has led to a higher demand for imports, especially beef. 
  • There is an interesting population dichotomy as currently there are concerns of overpopulation with fears of future underpopulation.  To put that into perspective numerically, Tokyo has around 14 million residents, but Japan’s population has decreased by 1 million in the past five years while continuing to quickly age. 
  • The agricultural center for Japan has declined to make up one percent of their overall GDP.  This is due to several factors as Japan has grown it’s tourism economy, farmers have been able to earn more profit for selling and renting their land rather than developing it. 
  • Some of the hunger issues in Japan are leading the country to potentially develop land in Africa.  Japan is working with Mozambique and other areas of Africa to build a relationship where Japan could import food from.  There are some concerns according to the Journal of Global Initiatives, that this “ProSavana” project could be a form of “neo-colonialist economic exploitation”.
  • Lastly, there are reports that Japan wastes up to 18 million tons of food per yea, with around 5 to 8 million tons of that wasted food actually being edible.  The reason for the discard is due to small blemishes or visual imperfections; with this unsettling data, Japan has an opportunity to reverse some of their food insecurity statistics.

Blue Zone

In Okinawa, Japan, there is a special way of life, referred to as Ikigai (生き甲斐), which translates into “a reason to wake up in the morning.”  This approach to living and their diet have contributed to being named one of the famous “Blue Zones”.  A “Blue Zone” is a geographic region where people live substantially longer, healthier lives, in many instances surpassing the 100-year mark with extremely low rates of chronic diseases. 

To dissect the diet, we learn that it is comprised primarily of whole plant foods (90%), and not fish for the traditional Okinawan diet.  Specifically, the following foods each make up less than 1% of the overall diet: fish, meat, dairy, and eggs.  The diet relies heavily on vegetables and beans, with a lot of the calories coming from both purple and orange sweet potatoes.  This helps to make the diet both highly anti-inflammatory and highly antioxidant. 

According to the National Institutes of Health, antioxidants target oxidative stress, which are free radicals that damage our tissues and act as a catalyst for inflammation.  These foods also inhibit pathways and enzymes that cause pain, swelling, and redness. 

In closing, for the Okinawans that eat in this fashion, not only do they experience a longer and healthier life, they also boast the following:

  • 6 to 12 times fewer heart disease deaths than in the United States
  • 2 to 3 times fewer colon cancer deaths than in the United States
  • 7 times fewer prostate cancer deaths than the United States
  • 5.5 times lower risk of dying from breast cancer than the United States

At Fiorenza’s Food For Friends (F4), we are committed to creating a world without hunger and food insecurity.  Our goal is to continue spreading awareness around hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world.  Please follow and subscribe to F4service. 

Sources

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