HISTORY FROM JAPAN - BENTO

Curious about how bentos came to be? Please enjoy our brief write-up on the history of "Obento".

Bento lunches, or the more formal Obento, are a traditional, popular and very common way for Japanese to enjoy lunch. In Japan, they are available from convenience stores, special bento take-out shops, kiosks in stations, and, of course, from home.

The history of the bento traces back to the 8th century where Japanese began carrying dried rice or “onigiri” (rice ball) in a bag. In the 16th century, lacquered wooden bento boxes were introduced which held meals served at special occasions, such as cherry blossom parties and tea ceremonies. During the peaceful era (1603-1868), Japanese culture flourished and became more sophisticated.

Noh and Kabuki theater became very popular and the bento known as Makunouchi was served between shows. Makunouchi is a square bento box which typically consists of rice, grilled fish, cooked vegetable, tamagoyaki (omelet-like cooked egg folded into a rectangular shape) and pickles.

Makunouchi continues to be one of the most popular bento styles today.Following the reintroduction of foreign trade with Japan in the late 19th century, Japan experienced dramatic change economically, culturally and ideologically. The Japanese government tried to catch up with the western world and one of the most important missions was to industrialize Japan.

The government built numerous factories which created a new type of employee--factory workers. These workers spent long hours in remote factories without restaurants nearby.

Therefore, the number of people packing and eating bentos increased dramatically. In the early 20th century, a new material called “Alumite” was invented and was used in the making of bento boxes. Unlike traditional materials, alumite was light, durable, and heat resistant.

It quickly took over wood and bamboo bento boxes and was widely used until plastic bento boxes became available. As Japan plunged into WW ll, a high school student in Hiroshima suggested bringing simple, inexpensive bentos to school.

This bento was nothing more than rice with umeboshi (pickled plum) in the middle. This white square of rice with a red umeboshi circle in the middle looked remarkably like Japanese flag, so people started to refer to it as “Hinomaru bento” (Hinomaru is the term Japanese use to refer to their flag).

This patriotic and straightforward lunch spread quickly throughout Japan during the war.After the war, most of Japan was either burned to the ground or destroyed but, overall, Japanese had a positive outlook on the future and focused their efforts on their recovery from the war.

In the 1950s, Japan started experiencing an economic boom and as people began earning more money, they started to eat out more. In the 70s and 80s, fast food chains, take out bento shops and convenience stores emerged but the bento’s popularity never diminished.

The frozen food industry has contributed a lot to modern bento culture. Widely available are frozen side dishes especially designed for bentos and the quality of these frozen dishes keeps getting better and better.

98% of all public elementary schools and 75% of all public middle schools serve school lunch to students. Therefore, they do not typically bring their own bento. But they do bring bentos for special occasions such as “Undo-kai” (school athletic festival), field trips and special bento days.

Children look forward these days when they get to enjoy their parent’s homemade bentos. Typical kid-size bentos are one-tier and have character images on the lid. Starting in 2000, the bento called “Kyara-ben” (character bento) has become a social phenomenon.

Some moms spend significant time designing and preparing creative, cute, fun bentos for their kids. They create a variety of designs; including characters, animals, flowers, trees, trains and cars, by cutting nori (seaweed), meats, vegetables and cheeses. In stores in Japan, it is surprising the extent of kyara-ben making tools that are available.

Blogs play an important role in this kyara-ben phenomenon. Those who make kyara-ben want to share their art work with the public and enjoy social networking.

Another remarkable trend in Japan is “Bento danshi”. Danshi means male in Japanese and bento danshi refers to men who make bentos by themselves rather than relying on their wives or mothers.

For a long time, taking care of the household was exclusively a woman’s job. However, things are changing and people are more open-minded with regard to “gender rules”, especially in younger generations. Bento manufactures are targeting this segment and creating bentos just for men.

These days, men’s bento boxes have a larger capacity than typical ones and commonly come in solid colors with little or no decorative touches. Another, very recent, trend is the “slim” style bento boxes that are thinner and/or taller than usual boxes, specially designed to fit into briefcases, computer bags or other work bags.Along with new trends in bento styles and bento-making, the bento has also gotten attention from educators.

In 2001, Kazuo Takeshita, who was the principal of Takimiya Elementary school in Kawaga prefecture, started a new school program called “Bento no Hi”(Bento Day). The idea was that once a month, all 5th and 6th graders make their own bentos at home without any help from their parents and bring their bentos to school for lunch.

Through this program, students learn things such as where their food comes from and how much waste society creates and they also develop an appreciation of the time and effort their parents put into making their meals.For over 1,200 years, the bento has been playing an important role for the Japanese.

Throughout that time, the lifestyle of Japan has changed and so has the bento. And it is now reaching far beyond Japan. Cultures all over the world are embracing the idea that the Japanese have been relying on for centuries.

As popularity and curiosity about bentos continues to grow world-wide, this outside influence will help to shape and mold the bento into its next generation.