食堂

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 学生食堂で食べた。▶ —
   I ate at the student cafeteria.
2. 社員食堂が安い。▶ —
   The company cafeteria is cheap.

Collocations

Mnemonic

しょくどう — 食堂, Sino-Japanese. Unpack the two kanji ── 食 (eat) + 堂 (a hall) = 'a hall for eating'. The 食堂 cluster ── 社員食堂 shain shokudou (employee cafeteria), 学食 gaku-shoku (a shortening of student cafeteria), 大衆食堂 taishuu shokudou (a cheap canteen for ordinary people). Japan's school 給食 kyuushoku (school lunch) culture ── compulsory at elementary and middle school. Launched 1889, folded into compulsory education in 1954. Nutritionists design it; 給食当番 (lunch-duty students) serve it. The 定食 teishoku (set meal) matrix ── a main dish + rice + miso soup + pickles. One word draws a whole meal's structure. The Korean readings sik / dang are sister to the onyomi しょく / どう.

Quick check

1. Year Japans kyuushoku became compulsory?

   • 1954 (launched 1889, mandated by 1954 Compulsory Education Act)
   • 1900
   • 1945 postwar
   • 2000s