August 3rd Yokohama Mayoral Election! Will Bento School Lunches with 264 Reports of Foreign Objects Become Mandatory!?
Although the Upper House election has just ended, the Yokohama mayoral election will be held on August 3rd. A serious issue for parents with children in the 6th grade of elementary school or in junior high school is the mandatory school lunch program for all junior high students starting in fiscal year 2026. While it may seem like a welcome development, numerous voices calling for improvements have been raised on the Yokohama City website under "Citizen Feedback."
Incumbent absent from candidate debate
In preparation for the mayoral election on August 3rd, a candidate debate was held by the business video media outlet "ReHacQ." Of the six candidates, the incumbent, Mr. Yamanaka, was absent. It is reported that despite the organizers offering to adjust the schedule to prioritize Mr. Yamanaka's availability, they received notice of his absence early on.
Watching this debate not only provides a clear understanding of each candidate's views but also sheds light on the various problems facing Yokohama City.
The junior high school lunch issue
The issue of junior high school lunches was also addressed during the debate.
Yokohama City is reportedly transitioning to a full school lunch program starting in fiscal year 2026, but it will be a delivery-style system, meaning bento boxes. It is said that the unpopular bento boxes known as "Hama-ben" have simply been carried over, and numerous voices calling for improvements have appeared in the "Citizen Feedback" section.
I searched for "school lunch" and picked out a few examples.
○ Regarding junior high school lunches, please clean the containers and improve the taste.
Received June 2025
"The containers are sometimes dirty, and I am worried about whether they are being washed." "
Because it is not tasty, many children bring their own bento from home."
○Regarding junior high school lunches, please improve the taste.
Received June 2025
"My child confided in me that the quality is something you have to endure to eat." "
Many students are leaving food behind, which is affecting their afternoon classes."
○ Please stop making junior high school lunches mandatory for everyone starting next fiscal year.
Received June 2025
My middle school child comes home having hardly eaten anything because the school lunch is not tasty.
○ Please improve the quality of middle school lunches
Date received: May 2025
My child says, "The school lunch is so unappetizing that I can't eat it even when I'm hungry."
○ The promotional video for middle school lunches does not reflect reality, so please make the reality match the video
Date received: February 2025
The "curry is included in the cold side dishes."It is served as a block that can be lifted in a square shape with chopsticks, but I was surprised to see a different kind of curry depicted in the middle school lunch promotional video."
○ Please do not make middle school lunches mandatory
Date received: April 2025
Why must we turn our lunch time, which should be something to look forward to, into a school lunch we dread?
"I cannot understand why mandatory school lunches were decided without conducting a survey."
○ Middle school lunches are cold and unappetizing, so please improve them
Date received: May 2025
My child complains that the school lunch is cold and unappetizing."
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Response
In our city's middle school lunch program, from the perspective of thorough hygiene management and food poisoning prevention, side dishes are cooled to 19°C, while rice and soups are served warm.
○ I enjoy eating middle school lunches, but I have some concerns about the milk
Date received: February 2025 Request Ward: Asahi Ward
I enjoy eating middle school lunches every day."
Among these, there was also an opinion that they "enjoy eating it." While I believe individual tastes differ, since this opinion is a request to Asahi Ward, there might be differences in taste and quality depending on the region (contractor).
I looked into the contractors.
Original plan From
*This is the schedule as of January 2025 and is subject to change in the future.
264 reports of foreign objects and other issues found through information disclosure request
Regarding school lunches in Yokohama City, it has been revealed through a Sankei Shimbun information disclosure request that there were 264 reports of foreign objects and other issues over the nine-month period from April to December 2024. Isn't 264 reports just from those reported alone far too many?
Below is a partial excerpt from the following.
Yokohama City's junior high school lunch program currently (as of March 18, 2025) places orders for 143 municipal junior high schools and one compulsory education school with four contracted companies (some are subcontracted). The participation rate is approximately 45%, with 32,000 to 36,000 meals provided daily.
According to the disclosed 'Yokohama Junior High School Lunch Foreign Object Contamination List,' the City Board of Education classifies foreign objects into: hair, insects, plastic fragments, vinyl fragments, fibers, burnt material, and others.The most common was hair, with 125 cases.These ranged from about 1 millimeter to about 40 centimeters in length, and in one instance, a manufacturing company had a hair about 22 centimeters long in a side dish, followed by a hair about 24 centimeters long in the rice the very next day.
There were 42 cases of insect contamination. Many cases involved flying insects or insects that could not be removed from raw materials, and there was even an instance where a stink bug was found in 'yuba (tofu skin) clear soup'.
Vinyl fragments accounted for 28 cases, including contamination from food packaging materials.Plastic fragments accounted for 13 cases, some of which were caused by tools used in inspection or cooking processes breaking off. There were 3 cases of fibers and 1 case of burnt material.
There were 52 cases classified as 'other.'These included small stones, toothpicks, and what appeared to be metal coil springs. In addition to foreign object contamination, this also includes the 'suspension of rice provision due to the possibility of desiccant contamination in barley' and two cases of container damage.
Can we send our children to school with peace of mind under these conditions?
Will home-packed lunches no longer be an option starting in fiscal year 2026!?
Currently, it is possible to choose to bring a lunch from home, but starting in fiscal year 2026, everyone is scheduled to be required to eat school lunches (Hama-ben).
Once again, from 'Citizen's Voice'.
○ Junior high school lunches are scheduled to be introduced from fiscal year 2026, but I would like the option of home-packed lunches to remain.
Date received: December 2024
The response to this was, 'For the growth of students and to enrich their future dietary habits, providing school lunches to all students is the intent of the School Lunch Act and we consider it our city's responsibility.'
If the incumbent is re-elected, everyone will end up eating these lunches, which are unpopular even among the children.
Improvement proposals from each candidate are discussed in the debates. If you watch the videos of the debates, you can compare them without having to listen to street speeches separately in the heat. Please watch the videos and think about it!
Postscript:
The video below looks back on Mayor Yamanaka's four years in office.
I thought this board game was very easy to understand, and it was created by City Council member Sakura Inoue. A version that can be enlarged has been made public.
From the video
