For many travelers, one of the main draws of Japan are the countless pleasures of food here. Local cuisine holds a wealth of unique delights. These include not only sushi, tempura and other traditional Japanese classics, but also curry, ramen and many other Japanese interpretations of international cuisine.

Recently, bento boxed lunch is also catching on worldwide as a unique facet of food culture. Like miniature dining tables, bento boxes packed with a well-ordered array of side dishes are sometimes called “jewel boxes” or “microcosms.” The colorful variety of bento boxes express the passionate belief in Japan that “food can be enjoyed anywhere, anytime.”

Ekiben

“Ekiben” (station bento) are available for passengers to enjoy on the train at major stations served by limited express trains and Shinkansen. Featuring local dishes and regional specialties, ekiben are one of the pleasures of train travel. Inside Tokyo Station, Ekiben-ya Matsuri offers more than 200 popular choices of bento from all over Japan every day. Contents often cannot be seen in their containers, so please choose from the sample photos or "food samples.” The staggering selection can be quite overwhelming.
JR-Cross(Japanese site only)

Convenience store bento

A favorite of all travelers, convenience stores also offer plenty of bento. Each convenience store chain is hard at work developing the most enticing choices, with regularly changing lineups, so you can find something new almost every time you visit. Use the in-store microwave to enjoy your meal piping hot.

kyaraben

Many people in Japan bring home-made bento to school or work for lunch. Anime fans around the world may have first seen this food culture in Japanese anime scenes where characters make and eat bento. In this article, we visit a cooking class to deepen our understanding of Japanese culture through making bento. Julien, a Belgian tour guide who lives in Tokyo, gives us a report from a traveler’s perspective.

I am originally from Belgium and have been living in Tokyo since 2016. As a tour guide, I have had the chance to guide foreign visitors around different parts of the city. One thing that never ceases to amaze me about Tokyo is that there is always something new to discover: a hidden shop, a new restaurant, or even an entire unknown neighborhood. Today, I would like to introduce a new experience I tried recently.

You certainly know bento, the Japanese boxed lunch. But have you ever heard of kyaraben? “Kyaraben” is the contraction of the words kyarakuta (Eng. “character”) and bento. It refers to lunch boxes that feature food decorated to look like people, cute animals, or characters from popular media.

Japanese homemakers originally developed kyaraben as a way to interest their children in their food and to encourage a wider range of eating habits. It quickly became very popular in the late ‘90s, and thus it’s no surprise that they often feature characters that were popular at the time, like Doraemon or Pikachu. Kawaii Cooking offers you the chance to experience this wonderful “kawaii” (“cute”) food culture in Tokyo! On this occasion I booked a session at their Ebisu studio, conveniently located only a few minutes’ walk from Ebisu Station. Upon arrival, I was warmly welcomed by the host, Kaoru. After some chatting, it was time for business. We put on our aprons, washed our hands, and the experience began. First I had to pick a character for my bento. Would it be the adorable bear or the cute dog? I went for the bear. Then, we started by preparing a rolled omelet with some surprising ingredients like sugar and mirin (sweet sake). The most interesting thing was the square fry pan used to make the omelet. After mixing the ingredients, pour 1/3, cook on medium, then roll the omelet. Repeat the process two more times and you get a nice omelet with layers. After the omelet, I prepared some cute side dishes to fill up the lunch box. A variety of things can be recreated with food like a mushroom character, hydrangeas, sunflowers, and many more. First, I decided to make a snail, which is made from sausage, rolled fishcake, and cheese. Cute and yummy! Once I was done preparing a few side dishes, it was finally time to assemble my lunch box! You start by laying a bed of lettuce in your box, then prepare rice balls of different sizes. To my great surprise, it quickly turned into a bear! For the details like the mouth and eyes, I used nori (dried edible seaweed). In the end, you can just let your creativity flow by adding all kinds of decorations using shaped molds in combination with vegetables or cheese slices. I will let you be the judge of the final result, but for me, it was a lot of fun!