Since I still have a list of all the questions my students wrote down for me before I went to Japan, I'm going to continue posting questions and answers, one at a time, for those questions I can answer with pictures. We will also try to find answers to some of the other questions during library class, using encyclopedias, almanacs, and books about Japan.
Q: What do the kids at school eat at lunch? (David H.)
A: The pictures below are of the school lunches I had during my school visits in Japan.
The lunches in the elementary and jr. high were very healthy, and the high school lunches were good as well, but had more fried food and fewer vegetables. The high school was the only place that had a cafeteria and where the students didn't serve the food to their classmates in the classroom. High school students had several choices for lunch, and I've posted pictures of two of them.
All of the lunches included rice, except one of the high school lunches that had noodles. All of the lunches also included soup, and 3 out of the 4 shown included fish or seafood. No desserts were served with any of the school lunches. Sweets are not as big a part of Japanese eating habits as they are in our country.
These lunches are healthy for the environment as well. Look closely at the pictures. How much trash is created by each school lunch? The only non-organic things that went into the trash from these school lunches were the lids of the milk bottles and the small foil cups holding the french fries.
Lunch at Motoyama Elementary School. The dark square thing is a rice ball wrapped in nori (seaweed), with a piece of salmon in the middle. It is meant to be picked up and eaten like a sandwich. 
Lunch at Asa Jr. High School. The menu for this lunch was created by one of the students in home economics class (which is part of the curriculum for all students). It includes broiled fish, rice with vegetables, and a tofu and vegetable soup. 
This is the lunch I had at Onoda Technical High School. It is shrimp and vegetable tempura (my favorite Japanese food!) over udan noodles. 
This is another lunch available at Onoda Technical high school. Although french fries aren't a traditional Japanese food, they are very popular in Japan. The other fried foods on the plate are pieces of chicken.
