The traditional Japanese diet of rice, grilled fish and vegetables has long been heralded as among the healthiest a culture has produced -- just witness Japan's long life spans.
However, changes have been under way for some time. Japan produces ever less of its own food and people's accelerated lifestyles leave less time for home cooking, so factory-processed junk food has displaced a lot of the wholesome traditional fare.
Japanese are eating more and more of less and less healthy foods -- the average person currently consumes 2,619 calories a day, a figure set to grow to 2,640 in a decade.