Japanese dairying was introduced as one of the modernization policies based on the Meiji Restoration 150 years ago and thus followed a development process different from traditional dairying in Europe and the United States. The difference is that ranch operation (i.e., raw milk supply) and milk processing and sales were separated from the beginning in Japan. Also, the fact that Japanese chose to consume sweetened condensed milk developed in the United States, over butter and cheese, spurred development of these two distinct and separated dairy businesses, that is, raw milk suppliers and its processors, which is characteristic of the Japanese dairy industry. It was after World War II that Japan's milk diet changed dramatically. The key to that change was the policies to promote the fusion of several Western cultures into Japanese society, which were implemented in the 1950s and 1960s under the influence of the U.S. Occupation Forces. Milk and cheese were introduced and became part of school lunches, and a campaign to popularize Western-style recipes to improve home nutrition was developed. On the production side, policies to promote new dairy farming, policies to promote agricultural modernization, and policies to stabilize raw milk prices to protect dairy farmers were also implemented. As a result of the implementation of such promotion policies and various activities, the dietary tastes of the people changed, and modern Japanese milk products are generally integrated into daily dietary habits. The event that contributed most to this change was the introduction of milk meals into the school lunch program.
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