The passengers on Japan’s bullet trains have been taking coffee, ice cream, or boxed lunches served by people operating a snack cart while they speed through landmarks like Mount Fuji.
But with a potential labor shortage and a tendency toward more passengers to shop for food before boarding the train, the onboard food cart services between the cities of Tokyo and Osaka will be finished on the 31st of October.
Central Japan Railway said on Tuesday that it will end the infamous onboard snack carts where a uniformed vendor serves drinks and light refreshments, moving their carts through the aisles of a moving train and bowing when they leave or enter the carriage.
Food and snack sales have been a significant part of the Shinkansen or bullet train since it started operating in 1964 when Japan hosted its first Tokyo Olympics. However, an official from the railway said it was still being determined when the cart service started.
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The response on the internet was sad and numb, with “Super-Cold Shinkansen Ice Cream” being the 5th most popular topic on the X platform, formerly called Twitter, in addition to “In-Train Service” 6th within days after the news.
“I remember that I enjoyed the ice cream every time I got on the train, and when I jumped on the last train without eating, I was saved by the sandwiches sold there,” one person said.
The office worker located in the western region of Hyogo is among hundreds of people across the globe who have shown an interest in entomophagy, which is the act of eating insects as they gradually become more of a viable food source.
As a kid, Yamamoto said he sometimes consumed soy sauce-baked grasshoppers. In Tokyo, he enjoyed food made from insects at the Take-Noko café, which celebrates everything buggy.
“It’s fun to select from a wider variety of dishes,” Yamamoto stated at the intimate second-floor cafe, surrounded by terrariums and insects of ants, beetles, and cockroaches.
“Everything was tasty. In particular, the water bug cider was quite refreshing and delicious, like a green apple.”
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Entomophagy was first taken seriously worldwide following when the United Nations deemed bugs a viable source of protein that could provide food to a world population expected to increase to 9.7 billion in 2050.
The effects of the livestock industry’s influence on climate changes and issues related to global food security caused by extreme weather and conflicts have led to an increase in interest in the quality, cost-effective nutrition that bugs offer.
Some people believe eating insects is disgusting; Japan has a rich tradition of eating insects for food.
Silkworms, grasshoppers, and wasps are all eaten in landlocked areas where fish and meat can be scarce. This custom grew in popularity during food shortages after and during World War II, said the manager of Take-Noko Michiko Miura.
“Recently, there have been advances in rearing things like crickets and mealworms for food, so the possibility of using insects as ingredients is really growing,” she said.