A city in Gifu Prefecture is jumping on the free lunch bandwagon that’s taken Japan by storm this year. But some people in Japan are questioning how they’re planning to fund it.
Gujō (郡上市) in Gifu is home to around 36,000 people, as well as the popular tourist attraction Gujō Hachiman Castle. The city’s considering a new policy that would see it waive its 4600 yen (USD $30)/month fee for lunch for middle school students. Instead, the city would pick up the tab, a cost of 160,000 yen ($1,051) per child for the three years of middle school.
So far, this change is in line with other free school lunch initiatives proposed in Japan at both the national and local levels. Politicians are lining up behind free school lunch proposals as one way to convince people to have more kids and halt the country’s declining birth rates.
However, Gujō says it’ll fund the initiative by ending its “long-life prize.” This is a program that gives seniors 100,000 yen ($657) if they make it to age 100. The city would also cut the money reserved for its annual Respect for the Aged celebration.
It’s a bold move in Japan’s rapidly aging society. Many in Japan – particularly among the young – criticize the country for doing too much to help seniors and not enough to support Japan’s next generation.
Not everyone’s on board, though. Some citizens interviewed by FNN Prime Online said they felt “complex feelings” over taking away a gift meant to celebrate the elderly and their contributions.
The Yahoo! News comments section for this article generated close to 5,000 comments. One of the most popular comments, with 39,000 “agrees,” said they “would rather give money to the young, who are our future, than the elderly.”
“I think this even as I’m getting older myself. Let’s be real, you don’t have any good uses for 100K yen at 100. I’m happy to use that on my hobbies and things I like, but I’d probably mostly give it to my family or to the younger generation to use.”
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Sources
【賛否】中学校の給食費3年間で16万円を“タダ”に…その代わり10万円の“100歳祝い金”などを廃止…若者へのシフトを検討 岐阜・郡上市長「若い世代に一度かけてみたい」. FNN Prime Online
