Milk may not be the first food most people think of when they think “Japan”. And in fact, the drink isn't as popular in the country as it is in other parts of the world. But Japan's got milk.
What this tells us is that hakugyuraku was also a medicinal product, not a food for everyday consumption (Reference 1). Milk and dairy products have become an indispensable part of the Japanese diet.
They still eat and drink much less dairy food than Americans and Europeans, because dairy products were not part of the traditional Japanese diet. Japanese children drink milk, and both children and adults like ice cream.
Drinking milk is practiced after bathing in onsen
They created a beverage called "coffee milk" which took off in the 1940s. Another version talks about another dairy producer who had wanted to sell milk but decided to do so at bathhouses, where refrigerators could be commonly found, and the practice was born.
According to a recent market analysis, the United States, India, and China are among the top countries in terms of dairy consumption. The United States, alone, consumed over 218 billion pounds of milk in 2020, while India and China consumed 178.6 billion and 83 billion pounds, respectively.
It's believed that Japanese people have only been consuming milk for about 150 years. It all began after the country opened its ports to the world and came into contact with Western culture. This is why about 90 percent of Japanese people are lactose intolerant now.
The exceptions are certain groups of humans, such as Hindus, Europeans, and their American descendants, who consume the milk of cows or other animals throughout their lives. A sizable majority of traditional cultures in the world do not drink milk, including most Asian and African populations.
An intriguing little detail in all this frothy commerce is that many people in China, like much of Asia, are lactose intolerant. Human children produce an enzyme that allows them to digest milk, but in much of the world, its levels taper off as they grow up.
On average, Chinese residents consumed 255.61 ± 88.40 ml dairy product per day. The elderly residents, residents with low education level, residents who lived with family members without milk-drinking habits and residents with poor knowledge of dairy product had worse dairy intake behavior (P < 0.05).
1/ Okinawan diet – Japan
So much so that Japan has the lowest obesity rates and second longest life expectancy of any developed country. The Okinawan diet is centred around fish, seafood, tofu, and other nutrient-rich ingredients. It's also extremely low in processed foods.
It is thought that Asian populations have decreased amounts of lactase in adulthood compared to Caucasian populations, especially those of northern European descent.
The Japanese have the lowest obesity rates as well as a long life expectancy. Their diet may safeguard against conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Naturally rich in soy, vegetables, fish, seaweed, green tea, fruits but low in added sugar, fat, and animal protein.
Is Milk Popular in Japan? Fresh milk in Japan became popular over the coming decades as the Japanese dairy farming sector grew and families had more disposable income. Today millions of Japanese regularly drink milk. It's often sold in much smaller cartons than the large containers found in Western supermarkets.
Do People in Japan Drink Milk? According to statistics from Japan's Dairy Industry Association, milk and dairy consumption in Japan is much lower than in the rest of the world[2]. Yearly dairy consumption sits at under 40kg per person per year.
Public breastfeeding is a taboo in Japan, and women have to hide in the bathroom to feed their baby. This is how nursing is viewed in our society.”
China, despite a growing interest in milk, is again near the very bottom, just above North Korea and Indonesia, where people basically don't drink milk. One last interesting tidbit is how milk consumption varies by age in a way soda and fruit juice consumption does not.
While 65% or more of the total human population are lactose intolerant, in some human populations lactase activity commonly persists into adulthood. Lactose tolerance is exceptionally widespread in Northern European countries such as Sweden and Finland, with tolerance levels of 74% and 82%, respectively.
But the biggest reason Asian cultures don't regularly incorporate cheese into their cooking is probably because so many East Asians are lactose intolerant. In fact, they're drastically more likely to be lactose intolerant than Westerners.
Famine and disease drove the evolution of lactose tolerance in Europe. Prehistoric people in Europe were consuming milk thousands of years before humans evolved the genetic trait allowing us to digest the milk sugar lactose as adults, finds a new study led by UCL and University of Bristol researchers.
In Europe, however, they use UHT (ultra-high temperature) pasteurization. In the states and Canada, we use HTST (high temperature, short time.) Here's what that means: HTST kills off most of the bacteria in the milk, which is necessary here because of all the hormones and illnesses.
Estimates for lactose intolerance vary by ethnicity. African American and Asian ethnicities see a 75% - 95% lactose intolerance rate, while northern Europeans have a lower rate at 18% - 26% lactose intolerance. For some people, drinking milk with their morning cereal is all the dairy they need for the day.
The higher quality of the milk itself is believed to be from the ideal farming conditions of Hokkaido. The cool climate of the region, plenty of wide open pastures, and fresh air provide a stress free living environment for the cows. Hokkaido milk is said to have a mild vanilla flavour.
There is no doubt one of the main factors why the Japanese are so slim is due to their diet, which is high in carbs and low in saturated fats. Their main dishes of choice include vegetables, grain, and seafood.
Japanese life expectancy
This low mortality is mainly attributable to a low rate of obesity, low consumption of red meat, and high consumption of fish and plant foods such as soybeans and tea. In Japan, the obesity rate is low (4.8% for men and 3.7% for women).