6.6.23
I’ve reported, or perhaps more accurately, raved, about being spoiled by the hoikuen’s brilliant kyushoku culinary experiences. Let me remind you of a few key moments from recent lunches:
- Being shown the freshly morning-caught red snapper that was to be prepared for our onigiri 3PM oyatsu
- Harvesting, then preparing the snap-peas that would be served as that day’s lunch side-dish
- Cleaning the onions that would be used for the next day’s curry lunch
- Eating (I kid you not) wagyu beef slices made for Oda Hoikuen’s graduation lunch
- Seeing every graduating kiddos “last meal wish” being granted throughout their last month at hoikuen (there were a lot of ramen, fried chicken, and cream stews on the menu that month)
But today…the turns tabled. We were asked to bring our own bentos! No kyushoku! Why, oh whyyyyy!?
Because it was one of three bento picnics Mitani Hoikuen apparently have throughout the year. The 4 and 5 yo kiddos were asked to bring a bento box for lunch, and we sat outside in a lopsided ellipse-like-circle together. And as lopsided as this attempt at a picnic circle was, the contents of the culinary displays in each box were mindblowing! These crafts ranged from Kirby-ham-musubis, egg-roll hearts, little panda onigiris, zombie rice sections, THE WORKS.
It was like going to one of those district-wide public-school art shows but bento-style. Teachers became spectators as they peered over little shoulders and “oo-ed” “aa-ed” sometimes even mumbled a little “ah, K-kun’s mom always comes through…how DOES she do it?” The kiddos would then proudly hold up their prized possession and remark at just how yummy or cute it looked. Having hungry kiddos wait to admire a meal before digging straight in—that’s no easy task. But these bento boxes succeeded in such a feat. And it’s easy to understand why with even just a glimpse of this glorious food-art. It was so sweet seeing just how happy these hand-made lunches made them—there’s something special when a 4-5 yo can tell how their food was made with sincere love and care.
But now, the question is, what exactly IS the revered bento box? In the states, we often see the gourmet lunch/dinner sets at Japanese restaurants labeled as “something-protein Bento Box.” However, I think that’s more the opposite of what a bento box in Japan really is–a bento in Japan is basically just a portable meal. So, it’s closer to the American brown-bag lunch than what we often purchase at our designated hibachi grills.
Its origins trace back to the Kamakura Period close to a thousand years ago, when people were made to travel long distances and figure out how to feed themselves while doing so. This meant inventing a way to preserve rice as a dried good, called “hoshi-ii” …which then upgraded to the “tonjiki,” the infamous rice ball set, once the Heian Period came to town. The “tonjiki” set was for that era’s bougie kimono-covered nobles, as such rice balls came to be their go-to cherry blossom viewing food (which is still continued to this day!)
Fast forward centuries to the Edo Period when the bento became “the People’s Food” … the era’s culture boom consisted of sumo watching, Noh performances, and Kabuki plays which meant many hungry audience members. Thus, bento-boxes were heavily commercialized in the 17th-19th centuries, and not only did the Makunouchi-Style Bento come about (the standard rice, protein, pickeled side set), but also many books/manuals/guides for the wrapping, decorating and crafting of a perfect bento box.
Since then, Japan has really taken their bento-box game to a whole new level, as there are many styles of character bentos, eki-bentos (bentos sold at bento-stands right near the train ticket gates…ekiben is a genre of food in itself) AND bentos often sport/advertise their designated prefecture’s local delicacy. For example, there are many Toyama Bentos sold as boxes of their famous press-ed sushi in subtitution for a bento’s’ regular rice, and some Okayama Bentos come in the shape of its prefectural fruit, the peach!
Anyway, enough droning on and on about the fascinating life, history, and culture of bento boxes…here are a few snapshots of Yakage’s very own bento works of art.
my bento for a honjin volunteer day!
an ekiben from kanazawa with rare octopus steamed rice
