While such foods as hamburgers, fried chicken, and pizza have become as familiar on Japan's dining tables as they are in the West, recently people have been expressing concern about the spread of unhealthy dietary habits. Nutritionists have studied the problem from a variety of angles, and a number of studies have pinpointed the abandonment of a traditional Japanese diet as one cause for declining dietary standards. Now some researchers are saying that whether a person uses chopsticks to eat meals is an indicator of the healthiness of his or her diet.

The Unhealthy Chopstick-less Tribe
It is not such an easy matter to define a "Japanese diet" these days: Dietary habits have changed so drastically over the past 50 years, and people have become so omnivorous in their preferences, that the boundary between native Japanese foods and imports has blurred. To clarify the issue, dietician Asako Aramaki has made a distinction between those who eat using chopsticks and those who don't. The members of the latter group, which Aramaki calls the "hashi-nashi zoku" (chopstick-less tribe), are easily recognizable as they tend to procure their meals from fast-food restaurants and convenience stores, and consume it, as often as not, with their fingers.

It may seem an oversimplification, but the type of meals consumed without chopsticks often serve as an indication of behavior that leads to an unbalanced diet. The members of the "chopstick-less tribe" tend to be particularly careless about eating a good breakfast; surveys on national nutritional standards also make clear that this group tends to take dinner at irregular hours and nibble constantly on snacks during the day.

Growing Old with Chopsticks
The problem is that many people are simply too wound up in their daily activities to find time to sit down for good, wholesome meals. They're more likely to grab a quick snack on the fly, and some just skip meals altogether. Once this becomes a habit, it may set the stage for the rest of one's life. This may, in the not-too-distant future, even put an end to Japan's status as the country boasting the world's highest life expectancy.

"When they were children, today's septuagenarians and octogenarians grew up on healthy food prepared at home," says Sachio Hattori, director of a nutritional school. "Today, people start out consuming high-protein, high-fat foods from childhood. I doubt they'll be able to live to a ripe old age with such a smothered-in-oil lifestyle."

For indisputable proof of the benefits of a balanced diet consumed with chopsticks, one need look no further than Kin Narita and Gin Kanie, twin sisters who are still going strong at the age of 106. Many believe that Kin-san and Gin-san, as they are known, have made it to this amazing age thanks to their healthy diet--three meals a day, including stewed fish, sashimi (raw fish), cooked vegetables, beans, and rice porridge--which they still eat with chopsticks.

Sound Minds and Bodies
Those in the chopstick-less tribe, says Yasuko Uemura, author of a book on nutrition, may eventually suffer from a variety of physical and mental complaints ranging from poor ability to concentrate to circulatory disorders. Medical studies have shown that blood circulation to the brain can increase by up to 20 percent when food is thoroughly chewed. People eating without chopsticks, however, tend to wolf down their food without chewing. And the dietary choices that can be eaten while on the run are not providing children with sufficient glucose, leading to low blood-sugar levels and a lack of energy.

Nutritionists are even indicating poor diets as a cause of mental problems among the nation's youth. Many of the students who "snap" and lash out violently may be suffering from calcium deficiency, a cause not only of weak bones but of an unbalanced mental state. Concerned dieticians are urging parents to shift their kids' diets away from instant foods and soft drinks and back to traditional, healthy Japanese fare, eaten at a leisurely pace with humble chopsticks.

Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.

---