Nagano Prefecture's vegetable intake is still among the highest in Japan. But it isn't "highest for both men and women." According to the FY2024 National Health and Nutrition Survey, published by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in December 2025, Nagano ranks first nationally in vegetable intake by prefecture for women, while Fukushima ranks first for men. And Nagano's women are also among the top group nationally in salt intake.

Nagano's "No. 1 in vegetables" turned out to belong to women alone

Looking at daily vegetable intake (age-adjusted) among adults aged 20 and over by prefecture, women in Nagano rank first nationally at 322g, 25g ahead of second-place Fukushima at 297g. Among men, Fukushima ranks first at 356g, with Nagano second at 313g. In the 2016 survey, Nagano ranked first nationally for both men and women. This time, one of those two crowns has passed to Fukushima — so the reputation "Nagano's vegetables are Japan's best" now, strictly speaking, describes the women.

Salt, too: Nagano's women remain in the top national group

Looking at salt intake (age-adjusted) by prefecture, Nagano's women come in at 9.8g, tied for first nationally alongside Miyagi and Akita. Men come in at 11.0g — above the national average of 10.5g, but still a middle-of-the-pack group some distance from the top figure of 11.7g shared by Yamanashi and Akita. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's "Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese (2025 edition)" sets a target salt intake for adults of under 7.5g for men and under 6.5g for women. Nagano women's 9.8g works out to 1.5 times that target.

Vegetables and salt come from the same kitchen

This isn't the first time we've written about food in Nagano: there's also our article on the Pinkoro Jizo and our article on Saku City's healthy-city vision. Those were stories of faith and of civic design, respectively; this one is a story told in dietary statistics.

Here's how I read the reason vegetables and salt sit together on the same table. Shinshu's dietary tradition still leans heavily on pickles like nozawana-zuke and on miso soup. Pickles and miso are both ways of turning vegetables into preserved food — and, at the same time, vehicles for delivering salt. In other words, the culture of eating a lot of vegetables and the culture of using a lot of salt grow out of the same kitchen. Nagano Prefecture is also a regular in the upper ranks of life expectancy nationwide (FY2020 life tables by prefecture: 2nd for men, 4th for women). That doesn't mean every number on the table is a model answer, though.

Try holding your own table up to the same ruler

What's worth carrying away from Nagano's numbers isn't a recommendation to cut salt. It's the habit of looking at strengths and weaknesses with the same ruler. Look only at the vegetable-intake ranking, and Nagano's table looks flawless. Look only at the salt-intake ranking, and it looks like it's carrying a real challenge. So it's worth not swinging between relief and worry over just one of those two tables. Why not try laying out your own table's good points and its concerning points, side by side, in the same even tone?

  1. Make a note, once, of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's target salt intake (adult men: under 7.5g; women: under 6.5g).
  2. Write down both the good points and the concerning points about your own table. Don't judge by vegetable quantity or salt quantity alone.
  3. Count how many vegetable dishes and how many salty dishes (pickles, soups, tsukudani, and the like) show up in today's meals.

Salt guidelines can shift depending on age and existing conditions, so anyone concerned should check with their doctor or a registered dietitian for peace of mind.

Sources