The Bento Box
The bento box(弁当, bentō) is a common element of daily life and Japanese cuisine. Many anime viewers or manga readers have probably seen it depicted many times, in situations such as school lunch breaks or picnics in the park. A bento is simply a box, often with separate compartments, that contains ready-to-eat food for consumption outside the home. What may initially appear as a mundane take-out meal, like those found all over the world, holds a deeper and fascinating cultural significance in Japan. Notably, in Japanese, this word is often preceded by the honorific prefix “o,” thus obento (お弁当).
The bento box can come in various types, such as disposable plastic, ceramic, wood, or metal. A bento can contain any type of food, but it is important for the meal to be balanced in its nutritional content. A typical bento often consists of rice, one or more dishes with meat or fish, and accompanying vegetables. However, there are no specific rules, and other popular bento dishes include yakisoba or various fried foods in tempura.
Bento has a hystory of almost 1,000 years and according to common tradition, “housewives,” prepare and pack bento early in the morning to give to their children going to school and their husbands going to work. However, with the emancipation of women, this custom is increasingly being questioned by younger generations where women often work as well. Today, it is possible to buy the bento box in many places in Japan. You don’t need to have a Japanese mother or wife to try a bento.
Other typical occasions for eating a bento are picnics in the park, nature hikes, beach or mountain outings, and long train, ship, or plane journeys. Surprisingly, the bento box is also present in an important moment like the table on the first day of the year: called osechi, it generally contains expensive ingredients in an elegant container. In this case as well, in the past, osechi-ryori for New Year’s was prepared at home, but in recent decades, hardly anyone does it anymore. During the New Year period, the streets are filled with shops selling this expensive variation of bento (which can cost more than 5000 yen).
The Bento Box Types
Bento is not just one, it can comes in many forms and variations, here’s a list of the most famous and iconic:
Kyaraben, kawaii bento
The word Kyaraben (キャラ弁) is an abbreviation of Kyarakuta bento (キャラクター弁当) which means “character bento,” where “character” refers to a character from an anime, an animal, a mascot, or anything with eyes and a mouth that inspires a sense of cuteness.
Kyaraben has a recent history, and it was created to transform a classic boxed lunch for children into something fun, which would help children eat vegetables and other foods that they might not otherwise enjoy.
Today, however, kyaraben have become a part of Japanese culture and have gone beyond the boundaries of children’s lunches. Since 2007, some TV channels have started broadcasting programs dedicated to the preparation of bento, and national competitions have also been held. In addition, there are a wide variety of books from which to draw inspiration.
Some of the most classic characters in a Kyaraben include octopuses made with sausages, onigiri shaped like pandas, vegetables or fruit cut into the shape of a flower, or the more recent minion-shaped omelet; but in the end, just add a couple of funny eyes and anything becomes kawaii.
Ekiben, bento of the train station
Ekiben (駅弁), an abbreviation of ekibentō (駅弁当), literally means “bento of the train station” and, as the name suggests, are bento sold at stations and consumed on board trains during a journey.
Ekiben are another classic part of Japanese life, although in recent decades, with the decline in the cost of domestic air travel and the increase in train speeds, the consumption of this type of bento has declined significantly compared to the peak of the 1980s, when some estimates suggested a consumption of 12,000,000 (12 million) ekiben every day.
Their price is quite reasonable, starting from 500 yen to a few thousand yen depending on the size and quality of the ingredients.
The first ekiben ever sold is thought to date back to 1885, when simple onigiri were sold in the Utsunomiya station wrapped in a bamboo leaf; however, it was in the Himeji station, in 1888, that the first “box” containing rice and tsukemono was sold.
Since 1993, April 10 has been chosen as the Ekiben Day by the Japanese association of railway concessionaires; in 2020, on the other hand, the 135th anniversary of this particular bento was celebrated.
Other types of bento
Other types of bento among the most popular are: the hinomaru bento (日の丸弁当), consisting of a base of white rice with a single umeboshi (a pickled plum) in the center representing the Japanese flag.
The shikaeshi bento (仕返し弁当), the “revenge bento,” which as the name suggests is prepared to take revenge on someone; whoever opens it may find it full of raw rice, with burnt food or with “vengeful” and embarrassing writings.
The aisai bento (愛妻弁当) has no particular composition, but as the name suggests, it refers to the bento prepared by the “loving wife” for the husband, but also refers to couples who are not necessarily married.
The koraku bento (子楽弁当) is the bento for picnics, it is composed of several shelves and is larger than usual, as it must contain food for more people; it usually contains seasonal food and the time when it is most used is certainly during hanami.
Where to buy bento in Japan
Supermarkets: Any self-respecting supermarket will have a wide section of ready-made food packaged in disposable plastic bento boxes. Supermarket bento boxes offer perhaps the best value for money: with generally very low prices, the quality is good and certainly superior to that of convenience stores. Before closing time, as with other products, you can find leftover obento at discounted prices!
Convenience stores (konbini): All convenience stores of any chain have at least a refrigerated counter with several bento boxes ready to eat, perhaps after a microwave heating, which is also always present in Japanese convenience stores. Here you can find some of the cheapest bento, although many people see the ready-made food sold in convenience stores as a type of junk food.
Bento shops (弁当屋, bentōya) and some restaurants: Especially in large cities, especially in the vicinity of office areas, but also in some tourist destinations, you can find shops specializing in the sale of ready-made meals, as well as restaurants that have a corner dedicated to the sale of their take-away dishes (often only at lunchtime). A popular chain of bento shops found throughout Japan is Hotto Motto.
Bento trucks: In some office areas, you can find, in the morning and until the early afternoon, characteristic bento trucks dedicated to the sale of bento for the workers of the area.
Large train stations, especially those served by shinkansen trains: Bento sold at train stations are called ekiben and often include local products from the cuisine of the region where the station is located. This does not apply to large metropolises such as Tokyo or Osaka, but rather to smaller cities with a greater regional connotation. No one forbids you from buying an ekiben at the station and eating it in a hotel or on the street, but generally the Japanese eat an ekiben during trips on shinkansen high-speed trains. On these trains, in fact, it is perfectly acceptable to consume a meal, while on local trains it is often frowned upon by other passengers.
Department stores: Almost all department stores in Japan offer a wide variety of bento with ingredients that are sometimes sought-after, with slightly higher prices and for a more demanding clientele. The bento section is usually located on the first basement floor (B1) of department stores, which are dedicated more generally to food.
Another peculiarity of the Japanese bento is that it is generally prepared to be aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes, packing a bento becomes an art, and there are many national bento competitions. For many mothers, it is almost a duty to prepare a bento that is cute to look at for their child to take to school.
There are shops or entire departments dedicated to the sale of “accessories” for the bento, to take care of its aesthetics, such as special boxes or tablecloths (furoshiki), molds to create various shapes with various foods, and other various decorations (see the section below on where to buy them).
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