Across Japan, a quiet nutritional revolution is reshaping the relationship between everyday eating and deliberate health. Major food manufacturers — sensing that wellness has moved from aspiration to expectation — are embedding protein into the foods people already reach for: curry pouches, morning coffee, rice. What was once the province of the dedicated athlete is becoming simply the texture of ordinary life, as a market once worth a fraction of its current size approaches ¥309.6 billion and continues to climb.