National Archives of Japan

2023 3rd Featured Exhibition “Let’s Eat!: School Lunches as Depicted in Public Records”

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January 20 (Saturday) to February 25 (Sunday), 2024 9:15 AM to 5:00 PM Open daily, including weekends and holidays. No reservations required, free admission	The National School Lunch Act (Law No. 160, 1954) will mark its 70th anniversary in 2024. The origins of school lunches in Japan are thought to date back to the third decade of the Meiji period (starting from the late 1880s), but state-led nationwide efforts to provide school food service such tracedate back to the decade or so prior to the start of World War II. Mainly using records from the holdings of the National Archives of Japan, this exhibition starts by looking back at the programs to provide meals at school undertaken since before the war and at improvements to the state of nutrition. In the latter part, iIt addresses the enactment of the National School Lunch Act following the war, and traces the later spread of school lunch programs and changes that reflect their times.Site: 1st floor Exhibition Hall, Tokyo Main Office, National Archives of Japan	→PDF →Homepage(HTML)