The Children and Families Agency has proposed letting public childcare centres anywhere in Japan serve meals cooked off site to infants and children under three. Until now, nurseries and integrated kindergarten-nursery centres could do so for that age group only if they were public facilities in a certified structural reform special zone, and other certified centres were limited to children aged three and over.
Three draft rules were published on 2 November 2026, with comments open until 23:59 on 1 December. They cover nurseries, integrated kindergarten-nursery centres and other certified centres, and follow a March 2026 Cabinet decision revising the special-zone basic policy.
Conditions attached
The drafts keep self-cooking as the principle for nurseries and integrated centres. A public facility using off-site meals must meet five requirements:
- The facility, not the contractor, stays responsible, and its manager must secure hygiene and nutrition oversight and suitable contract terms.
- A dietitian or registered dietitian must be available to advise on menus.
- The cooking contractor must be capable of doing the job properly.
- Meals must fit each child's age, development and health, with allergy and atopy care and allowance for individual differences among under-3s.
- The facility should serve meals under a food-education plan, which the draft frames as an effort obligation.
The facility must also keep equipment for the heating and storage that still has to happen on site.
Scope and timing
The nursery draft amends a Cabinet Office ordinance. The integrated-centre draft adjusts a cross-reference provision and repeals a special-zone order. The certified-centre draft amends a joint notification of the prime minister and the education minister and applies to centres run by local governments.
Promulgation is planned for December 2026 and application for 1 April 2027, with some provisions taking effect on promulgation. These are drafts, and nothing is in force.