Eating the Shokuiku Way The Japanese Guide to Raising

Kids with Healthy Food Habits

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Eating the Shokuiku
Way
Eating the Shokuiku
Way
The Japanese Guide to Raising
Kids with Healthy Food Habits

Marie Akisawa and Motoko Kimura

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
86-90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE
Copyright © 2023 by Marie Akisawa and Motoko Kimura

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission
from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Akisawa, Marie, author. | Kimura, Motoko, author.
Title: Eating the Shokuiku way : the Japanese guide to raising kids with healthy food habits / Marie
Akisawa and Motoko Kimura.
Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, 2022. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022023977 (print) | LCCN 2022023978 (ebook) | ISBN 9781538166536 (cloth) |
ISBN 9781538166543 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Cooking, Japanese. | School children—Food—Japan. | Food consumption—Health
aspects—Japan. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.
Classification: LCC TX724.5.J3 A37 2022 (print) | LCC TX724.5.J3 (ebook) | DDC 641.5952—
dc23/eng/20220803
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022023977
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022023978

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO
Z39.48-1992.
 Contents

1 Our Journey with Shokuiku

2 Shokuiku for Babies and Toddlers
3 Smarter Children = Smarter Adults
4 Eliminating Picky Eater Syndrome
5 Improving Children’s Behavior
6 Bringing Your Family Together (and Saving Money)
7 Fighting Disease and Childhood Obesity
8 Advanced Japanese Cooking Tips for a Healthier Life
9 Shinto Culture

Notes
Index
About the Authors
 Chapter 1
Our Journey with Shokuiku

When Motoko was born, no one heard her cry. Winter held its breath
outside the hospital windows in Kobe, Japan, as her mother heard doctors
say frightening things like “She’s weak,” “Very small,” and “She’s too
cold.”
Her parents named her Motoko, which in Chinese characters means
“energetic,” hoping she’d gain strength and someday live up to her name.
She wouldn’t make it easy. As an extremely petite child in kindergarten
and elementary school, Motoko drove her mother crazy by barely eating.
She got tired easily, and due to lack of energy, was indifferent to playing
with other kids. But her mother, Toshiko (a high school health teacher and
certified nutritionist who worked with over 6,000 students in her 25-year
career), refused to give up on her.
Before dinner, as most Japanese families do, they clasp hands and
practice a critical part of Shokuiku, called Itadakimasu. Itadakimasu means
“I partake,” and it is a spiritual thankfulness to the earth as well as all the
people who worked to get food to our tables to nourish our bodies (figure
1.1).
 Figure 1.1 Itadakimasu

After finishing dinner, Motoko’s mother would serve her a rice ball.
Though a tiny ball, little Motoko saw it as an insurmountable mountain of
food. At the time, Motoko thought making her eat it was torture. Didn’t her
mother see she had no appetite? Motoko clamped her mouth closed and
turned her face away from the food.
“Motokochang, the rice you ate at dinner was for your energy today and
tomorrow. You need this rice now to get bigger and stronger.” Motoko hated
being the smallest in school, not able to reach things and constantly being
teased as the classroom runt. So, she begrudgingly ate.
In time, Motoko’s health and strength improved, and her height and
weight reached the 50th percentile—happily average. Even more
remarkable, she noticed an incredible increase in her ability to concentrate
for abnormally long periods of time. For example, during the summer,
Motoko had a stack of math and spelling books meant to take months of
time to do. Instead of dragging it out, she decided she’d get it all done in
one day so she could enjoy the rest of her summer. And she did! No
problem. Ever since then, using the Shokuiku principles she’s followed
nearly her entire life, she can focus on a task undistracted for six to eight
hours at a time.
Throughout Motoko’s life in junior high and high school, her mom kept
making rice balls for her. She prepared a bento box every day, and in it,
Motoko had the most nutritious lunches.
“Bento box” is a Japanese term for a homemade lunch served in a
container divided into sections, or “rooms,” with each room being the home
for an individual food. Think of a microwavable dinner tray, but instead of
each compartment filled with processed, high-sodium, high-fat, high-sugar
“food,” each room inside a bento box is filled with fresh, wholesome fuel
for your child’s body (figure 1.2). With its colorful presentation, a bento
box is quite beautiful to look at as well as alluring to eat!
 Figure 1.2 Bento Box

Diligent attention to nutrition allowed Motoko to achieve

accomplishments greater than her peers. For example, she taught herself
English and scored 109 on the TOEFL English test, the most recognized
English test in the world. To put that score in perspective, most prestigious
universities in America require at least a 68 on this exam, with Columbia
requiring the highest score of 104+. That she could teach herself English
and score that high on the exam is a testament to Shokuiku and food
education.
With Motoko’s mother’s dedication to Shokuiku, and without ever
having been told to study, Motoko got into one of the most prestigious
universities in Japan, Sophia University, a top-five school (out of around
800), along with her friend and coauthor Marie, who had experienced a
resurgence of health by eating the Shokuiku way.
Prior to getting into Sophia University, Marie experienced health
problems after spending a year as an exchange student in San Antonio,
Texas. There, she stopped practicing Shokuiku and started eating the
“American way” (i.e., endless pizza, hot dogs, processed and fast foods
with no concern as to where the food comes from [figure 1.3]). While she
thought these addictive foods she enjoyed with her friends tasted great, her
once-stellar grades and endless energy were replaced by lethargy, poor
academics, lack of focus, weight gain, and depression. She felt her body
shutting down on her. When she returned to Japan, she remembered
Shokuiku and the way her mother would cook meals for her with fresh
vegetables from nearby farms. In desperation, Marie dedicated herself to
going back to those ways. And guess what? Before long, her grades and
health rebounded. She found her focus returned, her weight normalized, and
her mental health improved. She also found her life mission—to help
inspire others to eat this way.
 Figure 1.3 Eating American junk foods

In college, Marie and Motoko became best friends in their shared love
for health and food. Marie shared that her father also had lapsed in his
eating styles when he was an exchange student in the United States, and
that may have caused him to develop type 2 diabetes in his 50s. To help
improve the health of her father, and to avoid developing type 2 diabetes
herself, Marie began to study nutrition and has become a registered
dietician, and also a chef, and has learned a variety of healthy cooking
techniques from traditional Japanese to macrobiotic.
 After learning many types of cooking considered “healthy” in Japan,
Marie realized that eating the Shokuiku way, the way her mother cooked for
her every day when she was young, was the best way to stay healthy and
energized after all. Special cooking techniques such as low-carb are critical
for those who need special attention due to health conditions such as
obesity and diabetes, but from the age of a toddler, it is important to eat as
much of a variety of food as possible in moderate amounts following the
Shokuiku way.
Marie has taught various healthy eating courses according to the needs
of her students in Tokyo, and later decided to focus on low-carb cooking
and started cooking daily for her father. Using her nutrition plan, her father
reversed his type 2 diabetes in his 70s and is currently still working as an
MD in his mid-80s, enjoying his energetic, long life with his beloved
grandson. Marie became a gifted, sought-after registered dietitian, chef, and
nutrition book author who serves as chairwoman of the Japanese Nutritious
Foods Association, leading online courses on healthy eating.
Motoko went on to fulfill her dreams as a successful writer and movie
producer, and after becoming a mother and traveling to America regularly,
Motoko herself saw firsthand the damaging way Americans eat. Making
things worse, every nanny she hired to help wasn’t aware of the correct
ways to feed a child. After experiencing this frustration, Motoko decided to
spread the word about the benefits of raising kids the Shokuiku way.

***
Motoko’s son attended an international Montessori preschool in Japan filled
with students from all over the globe. She noticed students from Europe
usually ate a lunch of pasta with butter, hard bread, and cheese from a paper
bag. American students typically brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
and an apple. Students from Africa ate fried chicken and potatoes; India
students, curry and naan. Motoko had a chance to discuss Shokuiku with
Eriko Jones, the school’s director. Over the course of 24 years, Eriko has
worked with over 2,000 students. Out of all the food cultures she’s
witnessed, the most impressive positive effects on learning have come from
eating the Shokuiku way, which features diverse, colorfully balanced meals,
including grains, vegetables, fish, and beans. Shokuiku can be practiced in
any culture’s food!
 Also, Eriko noted that school lunches cut into bite-size pieces
empowered and raised children’s self-confidence by enabling them to eat
easily and neatly on their own, fulfilling their need for independence (a.k.a.
the “I Do It!” phase of childhood).
Students with brown, colorless paper-bag lunches filled with brown,
somewhat nutrition-less foods sat next to students like Motoko’s son with
his bento box lunches filled with vivid, enticing foods. Her son’s classmates
asked him, “What is that?” “Is it good?” “Can I have some?” They’d try to
sneak bites of his food! Vibrant and healthy lunches appeal to all children
no matter their race or heritage. And they will appeal to your child as well.
Eriko noticed that students who brought colorfully balanced lunches
could learn how to do complicated math such as division by the age of four
compared to their classmates who did not.

***
Motoko is often asked, especially by American parents, how she gets her
child to eat so adventurously or how she’s maintained her own health and
youth. In her late 40s, she still has to show identification to buy alcohol!
Like her mother, she’s never been hospitalized or significantly ill.
Right or wrong, parents tend to feed their kids similarly to how they
grew up, and when faced with the challenge of changing this cycle for their
own children, sometimes parents get a glazed look. After all, America is the
birthplace of fast food, with over 66% of its population overweight or
obese.1 Everyone knows eating better is, well, better for us. But even
though people know how important it is, they still go against what they
know.
It can be challenging but not impossible to break this cycle.

***
A child is born with only half of his or her IQ genetically hardwired.2 The
rest is in our hands as parents to help our children achieve their best. We
have only one shot at our children’s formative years, and while we’ll all
make mistakes as parents along the way, the one thing we can make sure we
do is set our children up for a long, healthy life.
Unlike the “tiger mom” stereotype you may associate with Asian
mothers, Motoko’s mother never pushed her too hard, but with her strong
food foundation, Motoko blossomed on her own.
Motoko’s ability to study improved due to practicing Shokuiku and
consuming a nutritious balanced diet, consistently, every day.
Every meal is important. Having one balanced, nutritious meal once a
week won’t work. You need to care about what you and your child eat for
every meal, one by one. And while Shokuiku takes some initial thought and
effort, it is completely achievable and will become an easy way of life.
Shokuiku isn’t a miracle switch where one day your child will suddenly
become brilliant. But in order to put in the amount of effort needed to
succeed, kids need the right energy and the highest-functioning brain
possible. The correct foods help increase their concentration and allow them
to awaken their full potential.
Motoko and Marie want to educate you and parents everywhere on the
health benefits Japanese people have enjoyed for thousands of years,
leading to Japan having the world’s longest life span and lowest rate of
obesity.
Motoko and Marie are here to make it easy. If you incorporate even a
few Shokuiku principles into your family’s eating lifestyle, you and your
children will benefit. You picked up this book and you’re well on your way!
Our goal with Shokuiku is to show how easy it is to adopt better eating
principles. Through simple changes like serving your child a lunch in a
bento box, which we will review in the following chapters, you can change
your child’s and your family’s life. These little steps will lead to big
changes in your family’s health.

A QUICK BACKGROUND OF SHOKUIKU

Before we get into all the tips and tricks we’ll be sharing throughout this
book, it’s important that we briefly explain the basics and background of
Shokuiku.
The Basic Law of Shokuiku was enacted in Japan in 2005 as a way to
tackle growing health issues that were popping up around the country. The
idea of the law was to promote Shokuiku throughout Japan and get its
citizens back on track with their health and nutrition. But Shokuiku was not
a new concept in 2005. It originated in the late 1800s when many people in
Japan were faced with nutrient deficiencies from poor diets. Shokuiku was
born to teach these Japanese citizens about nutrition and help them improve
their diets.
Shokuiku remains an integral part of life in Japan and has had a
positive impact on the rates of disease, obesity, and longevity in the
country.
The word Shokuiku translates to “food education,” and while it does
teach families about nutrition, it’s much more than that. Shokuiku is made
up of principles that parents follow when raising their children and teaching
them how to eat properly. It’s not a diet, but a way of life. The right
nutrition knowledge can foster a healthy relationship with food. And when
you have a good relationship with food, you also have the ability to respect
your body, avoid crazy fad diets, maintain a healthy weight, and choose the
best foods for your health for your entire life.
But Shokuiku is not just about teaching people how to eat for the most
health benefits. It’s also about connecting with the people and world around
you. You’ll learn in later chapters the importance of doing things like eating
meals with your family as a way to bond, preparing foods with your kids,
talking with your kids about food and culture, and showing gratitude toward
food and the people that made it. It may not seem like it, but these types of
actions go a long way in teaching kids about food, and even the world.
 Chapter 2
Shokuiku for Babies and Toddlers

Can you imagine having a child who doesn’t ask for sweets or who, after a
few bites of ice cream, says, “Mom, I’m all done, it’s too much”? This
behavior is not a miracle. It is healthy conditioning using the practices of
Shokuiku (figure 2.1). Motoko’s seven-year-old son demonstrates this
behavior consistently. Starting around age six, whenever he has been
offered cake or candy, because of his solid Shokuiku conditioning, he self-
regulates his body. He says, “Mommy, if I eat more of this, I’ll get a
stomachache.”
Through Shokuiku, Motoko has taught her son how to listen to his body.
She’s given him the gift of moderation in a natural way, in a way that feels
instinctual for him rather than someone “making him do it.” The tools
Motoko has given her son around food help ensure that it will be very
unlikely for him to be faced with diet-related health issues down the road.
And no matter the age of your children, it’s not too late to give them these
same tools.
 Figure 2.1 A boy choosing a smaller icecream

THE SHOKUIKU FOUNDATION

In Japan, all parents learn Shokuiku when they prepare to have a baby. Just
like Lamaze or Baby CPR classes taken in America, in Japan we take a
class called Shokuiku, or “Food Education.” The goal of this class is to
teach parents the best way to feed their children to set them up for success.
For example, Japanese parents learn that you can try to do a puzzle or sing
the alphabet song to your toddler, but if all your child had to eat was
pancakes with sugar-filled syrup for breakfast, he’s not going to be able to
sit still or absorb the information from his parents. Calorie-rich foods like
pancakes and sugary syrup don’t provide kids with the right nutrition to use
their brains to the full capacity (not to mention the fact that putting so much
added sugar into a tiny body will make it hard for that body to remain still
for any period of time!). Nutrient-rich foods are imperative for the brain to
even have a shot at learning skills and information.
The people of Japan consider Shokuiku a basic way of life. They all learn
the principles of this eating practice from day one of their lives and pass it
down to their children and grandchildren. This is certainly not the way it is
in the United States, but Americans can learn many things from the healthy
ways of Japan and can start practicing Shokuiku no matter their age. Having
the right nutrition education can help parents and kids make the best food
choices throughout their lives that will help them achieve longevity.
In 1896, Dr. Sage Ishizuka (sometimes referred to as the “Vegetable
Doctor”) first discovered the connection between food and the aspects of
aging and disease. He defined Shokuiku as the “scientific method to eat for
longevity.” You remember the scientific method, right? Dr. Ishizuka’s
mission was to help parents and children realize that learning how food is
used in the body is the most important form of education, coming before
academic study, before ethics, and even before exercise. “Food education
is the basis for all education,” he said. And Shokuiku is the food education
your family needs. According to the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, “Shokuiku . . . cultivat[es] an ability to make choices about food;
fostering an understanding of traditional food culture; encouraging an
attitude of respect for life and nature through food.”1
The exceptional foundation of nutrition knowledge provided by
Shokuiku helps Japanese people do so much more than just eat healthy
foods. One concept of Shokuiku helps people feel more grateful and
appreciative toward food, and this unlocks the door to many more health
benefits. It may sound silly, but being grateful for your food will actually
help you and your family have a better understanding of nutrition and
where your food comes from, and this will promote better health outcomes.
When Shokuiku is a way of life during a child’s early years, it is instilled
deeply into their body and mind makeup. And when healthy habits are
ingrained in this way, they will have an easier time bouncing back if they
get off track over the course of their life. Remember Marie and her father’s
example of how they got their health back after going off-course in the first
chapter? Both Marie and her father had lived in the United States during
their high school years and indulged in the American way of eating—fast
foods high in saturated fat and added sugars. It may have been fun at the
time, but they both suffered the consequences with diabetes, weight gain,
extreme lethargy, and all the complications that can come along with these
issues. Once they connected how terribly they felt with their American
eating habits, they went back to eating the Shokuiku way, and both were
able to reverse major health problems within only one year. Of course, this
was easy for them because they’d been raised in this way. But remember,
it’s not too late for your family. Parents, it is critical you raise your
children the Shokuiku way to make it easier for them to return to
healthy eating over the course of their lives as well!

FOOD QUALITY = LONGER LIVES FOR OUR

CHILDREN
In America, parents typically focus their attention on what foods are “safe”
and “unsafe” as they introduce foods into their babies’ diet. New parents
aren’t taught to consider the quality of the food or how the food might
translate into behavior, sleep habits, or life longevity. American parents
tend to seek convenience and quantity over quality, and they typically
feed their children the way they were raised, whether their upbringing was
healthy or not.
Food quality, philosophy (teaching a healthy relationship with food), and
offering a variety of foods (to avoid picky eating) are often overlooked in
the critical first three years when your child is developing the most. This
has partly led to the poor health statistics of Americans. The average life
span of an American in 2020 was 77 years old, compared to 85 years old in
Japan.2
Think about that: You could give (and get) the gift of an additional 10
years of life to your child by raising them to eat the Shokuiku way! Isn’t that
worth passing on some food items that give just momentary pleasure? If not
for you, for your child, who is starting out in this world as a beautiful blank
canvas and will think healthy food is delicious if you teach him or her to?
 What American parents don’t realize is this: The right quality foods can
unlock the full potential of your child’s mind and life span. “That’s all?
Food?” you might be asking. Yes, that’s it! There is so much in parenting
and health that is outside of our control, such as accidents and genetics.
Don’t you want to take control of the factors you can?
What you feed your baby will have a direct effect on how smart they
become and how long they will live. And when we say quality foods, you
probably already know what we’re talking about. The foods with the best
quality are those that offer the most nutrition. Quality foods are nutrient-
dense, meaning they contain important macronutrients (carbohydrates,
protein, and fat) and vital micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Foods
that are of a lesser quality will contain lots of things like sodium, added
sugar, saturated fat, and empty calories that don’t offer additional benefits.
Examples of quality foods include, of course, fruits and vegetables but also
whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats. Foods that don’t offer much in
the way of quality include processed snacks, convenience meals, desserts,
and fast food.
Kids absorb so much of what their parents teach them. If you feed your
kids the best foods for their bodies from the start, you are laying an
excellent foundation for their health for the rest of their lives. What you
teach your child about food and nutrition will stick with them forever in one
way or another. Kids who grow up in a healthy foods household are more
likely to maintain healthy habits like eating fruits and vegetables once they
are adults.3 Parents only want the best for their kids, and healthy food
choices are just that!

YOUR CHILD’S INTELLIGENCE AND HEALTH IS

DEPENDENT ON FOOD
Food can build or break down any human body, but the lifelong
consequences of an unhealthy diet in the first few years of life are especially
dire. It is widely supported that even mild nutrition shortages in the critical
period of the first three years have a negative impact on a child’s ability to
thrive in intelligence, language, motor skills, and behavior.
Malnourished brains are smaller, have fewer neurons and synapses, and
are challenged with other biological deficiencies. In fact, it’s reported kids
under three who are “food-insecure” (meaning healthy foods and quantity
of foods not available to them) are:

90% more likely to have poorer health and

76% more likely to encounter problems with brain development in
cognitive areas such as language and behavior.4

But even kids who aren’t food-insecure aren’t being fed the right foods to
fuel their growing and developing brains. It may be surprising, but kids who
eat plenty of food can also be malnourished. Babies, toddlers, and big kids
need plenty of calories, protein, iron, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals
for their brains to grow to their full potential. A diet high in processed
foods, let’s say, may not provide much more than empty calories, sodium,
added sugar, and saturated fat. The important nutrients needed for growing
brains are severely lacking in convenience foods.
The journey to providing your children with the best foods for their brain
actually starts in the womb when brain development begins. Unborn babies
can be born malnourished if mom didn’t eat properly during her pregnancy.
This means pregnant mothers need to eat the same healthy calories and
nutrients like protein, healthy fats, and micronutrients that babies and
toddlers need.
A newborn’s brain is only one-fourth the size of what their adult brain
will be. In the first month of life, 100 billion brain cells multiply 20 times to
make at least 1,000 trillion connections that we humans use to understand
the world around us.5 By your child’s second birthday, her brain will be
three-fourths of its adult size, and by her fifth birthday, her brain will be
90% of its adult size.6
Genetics account for about one-half of one’s IQ.7 The rest is
environmental and up to us parents. What an opportunity to help shape your
child’s destiny!
Most doctors and scientists agree the first three years are a “critical
period” where all of baby’s senses are engaged—what she sees, hears,
touches, smells, and tastes help shape how the brain thinks, learns, and
feels.8 Did you know that even the act of chewing increases blood flow to
the brain?9 But besides a baby’s senses, good nutrition in the first three
years of life can have a major impact on both life span and reducing the risk
of many diseases in adulthood. Basically, you can make a huge difference
in your baby’s intelligence, behavior, and health with how and what
you feed your child in the first three years of life when their brain is
doing most of its growing.
As parents or parents-to-be, we dream of our kids growing up to be
better, stronger, smarter, and faster than we are. We want to give them any
edge we can to thrive in this increasingly competitive world. Feeding them
the Shokuiku way will give them that edge.

BREASTFEEDING VS. FORMULA-FEEDING: BABY’S

FIRST SIX MONTHS
If you’re currently expecting a baby and considering whether you’ll
formula-feed or breastfeed, kudos to you for putting thought into that
important decision. You’ve probably heard the saying “Breast is best.” And
while there are many advantages to choosing to breastfeed (such as the
higher level of antibodies and cheaper cost), the saying should be “Fed is
best” because it’s most important that infants get enough calories and other
nutrients to help them develop. Americans jumped on board the
breastfeeding train around the 1970s. Prior to that, the convenience of
formula-feeding reigned supreme. Now, about 56% of babies are breastfed
until they’re six months old.10 And this is great because it is recommended
that babies be breastfed or fed pumped breast milk for at least the first six
months of life.
DHA (the type of healthy fat found in many fish like salmon and tuna) is
one of the most important ingredients in breast milk or formula for a baby’s
overall growth and development. Because mothers in Japan tend to eat
significant amounts of fish, the amount of DHA in their breast milk is
higher than average. In fact, the amount of DHA in the breast milk of
American women is about one-third of the breast milk in Japanese women,
in fact.11 You can always increase the amount of DHA and other important
nutrients in your breast milk by improving your own diet. After all, what
you eat as a nursing mother directly affects your little one (in both positive
and negative ways).