The schools would distribute these rations as lunch which the children would eat in the classroom. This is how kyuushoku began. Now that Japanese society has fully recovered, there are very few families who cannot prepare a lunch box for their children to take to school. Still, the tradition of kyuushoku continues as part of the education system. Sharing a meal is a way of deepening friendships.
Students therefore eat kyuushoku in the homeroom with classmates and the homeroom teacher.
Eating in the classroom is only permitted at kyuushoku . In some regions, a central kitchen prepares the food for a number of elementary schools, and each school receives a delivery at lunchtime. In both cases, a managing nutritionist checks the nutritional content and cost of the meals, and decides on the menu for each day. The cook in charge prepares the food with great care for proper sanitation. The food is then distributed onto several carts, each of which is wheeled into the appropriate classroom and distributed to the students by the children on lunch duty that day.