Ever-changing Bento千変万化のお弁当

Bento is the now famous Japanese version of the packed lunch, a small box with rice and accompanying sides. Bento feature in a wide variety of events and occasions, from everyday bento brought to work or school, to bento for flower-viewing or theatergoing. At the G7 summit in 2016, the Ise-Shima Summit, bento grabbed the headlines when it appeared as the working lunch for the world leaders in attendance. More recently, thanks to online publicity, kyaraben, or “character bento,” have earned the spotlight with their animals and popular anime characters, establishing a new form of food culture. Evolving and diversifying with the times, bento hold immense charm.

Japan’s bento are now well known all over the world. The word “bento” can even be found in French and English dictionaries.

It is defined in one as “A Japanese-style packed lunch [...] usually in a special box with separate parts or containers inside it.” Charting the history of bento reveals a highly developed food culture beyond the mere packed lunch.

Bento’s history goes way back. When Yamato Takeru, legendary prince of the Yamato dynasty, was sent to subdue the eastern lands, it is recorded in the Kojiki, an early Japanese chronicle, that he ate mikarehi, dried rice that is steamed and then dried in the sun. Add water and it softens back up into an edible food; in dried form it can last for 20 years. Dried rice is light and compact, and with loads of vitamin B1 it was no doubt a great source of energy for the prince.

At a later date, in the Muromachi period (1336-1573), lidded food boxes from China evolved into rectangular, multi-tiered containers called jubako. In the Edo period (1603-1868), wealthy merchants had bento boxes made to compete with each other at flower-viewing parties, tea gatherings and other seasonal events. They were beautifully ornamented with gold and silver on lacquer, and were functional, too, serving as small dishes, cups and vessels for warming sake, gorgeous adornments for banquets and feasts.

Among the commoners, three meals a day was typical, and to fill their stomachs while in the fields without any eateries nearby, up in the mountains or out on the ocean, and as travel and sightseeing became more popular, people started taking a simple bento along with them (koshi-bento), rice balls in a bamboo sheath or basket. As the theater became a favorite pastime, a new style of bento made its debut, makunouchi-bento, with egg rolls, fish cakes and simmered vegetables complementing the rice. To ensure patrons could eat their meal quickly during the makuai, or intermission, the rice was compressed and shaped like a bag of rice, a practice that continues today.

Entering the Showa period (1926-1989), the quality and availability of food improved after the war, and bento began being taken to school and work for lunch. These bento were not only filling; they considered dietary balance and visual appearance as well, becoming a means of expressing the love and bonds of family. An aisai-bento, for example, is a bento made with tender loving care by one’s wife.

Delicious even when cold, the inimitably flavored dishes draw largely on the cooking methods, like simmering, and seasonings, like aemono dressings, used in Japanese cuisine. There are many detailed considerations involved, including the balance of colors. Well-known varieties in Japan are the tri-colored bento (sanshoku-bento), which consists of minced chicken over rice, scrambled egg, shredded pink codfish and green vegetables, and the hinomaru-bento, which recreates the Japanese flag with a reddish pickled plum in the center of white rice. With anti-septic and anti-bacterial qualities, using pickled plums in rice balls to prevent spoiling makes good sense as well.

Bento containers are also evolving. There are now bento boxes made from Japanese cypress wood that absorb moisture in the right degree to preserve the delicious flavor of rice. Anodized aluminum bento boxes have also been developed for winter; they can be heated or kept warm on the stove for a warm meal.

Moving into the present, frozen foods and retort pouch products are available in great abundance, and the variations have grown even richer. In this interconnected Internet age, Japan’s “character bento” have recently taken the world by storm. These fantastical bento are skillfully modeled on popular animated characters and phrases created with colorful food ingredients. Hugely popular with children as well, their stunning visual impact and sense of excitement when opening the lid, can help kids overcome their pickiness about certain foods and also teach them about nutrition.

Changing times, changing lifestyles, changing lives—perhaps what is most interesting about bento is how they vividly reflect the sense Japanese people have for life as it unfolds.

When prepared with an array of ingredients and methods while giving close consideration to taste and timing for deliciousness even when cold, bento is elevated to the realm of the gourmet. Like gigantic trees humbly recast as bonsai, or the “microcosmos” realized in a small tearoom, bento embody the essence of the Japanese aesthetic of finding value in the skilled handling and miniaturization of exquisite things.

Along with art works and masterful handicrafts, there is no shortage of gourmet food in Japan. Some of the country’s top cooks and chefs also create original, imaginative bento. One is the temari-zushi, or ball-shaped sushi, of Ginza Sushi Aoki, an orthodox edo-mae sushi shop in Ginza, Tokyo. Prepared fish or other seafood is placed on vinegared rice and wrapped into a ball-shape. This temari-like sushi is formed into a tiedoff, bite-sized ball. Such an artistic, multicolored arrangement makes the bento look almost like a jewelry box.

“The previous owner, my father Yoshi Aoki, came up with just one new dish,” says shop proprietor Toshikatsu Aoki, “and that was ‘Oboro’ temari-zushi made by flaking tiger prawns and shiba shrimp. I took my inspiration from his innovation.”

Well-vinegared gizzard shad is woven together, finely cut squid cakes are used as the filling—with all the time and effort that goes into it, one hesitates to take a bite. There are also sweet ingredients, fresh ingredients, ingredients marinated with kombu—the joy is boundless. Most of the toppings and fillings taste even better as time goes by, which is the essence of edo-mae sushi.

“I prepare the sushi based on when my customers are planning to eat it,” Aoki says. “Depending on the season, in the summer, for example, I may lightly steam the sea urchin instead of leaving it fresh. For individual customers, I recommend sushi in a box, but for parties and entertaining at home, thanks to its beautiful appearance, temari-zushi is best. Being able to enjoy a little luxury in your hotel room, or, more recently, while cooped up at home, is one of the charms of bento.”

Opening the wrapping, opening the lid, the customer smiles; from edge to edge the skillfully prepared bento displays the chef’s own pride and joy.

Long and narrow from north to south, splendid witness to four changing seasons, Japan is a treasure trove of the blessings of land and sea. The bento sold on trains and at train stations, ekiben, indispensable to travel, are made with local specialties and seasonal ingredients—they are the gourmet food of the place.

Ekibenya Matsuri in Tokyo Station, one of the largest terminals in the country, is a major vendor of ekiben, with as many as 150 varieties from around Japan, Hokkaido to Kyushu, in stock. The place is bustling with business people and travelers from the time it opens at 5:30 in the morning. At peak times, it sells 20,000 bento a day, a true Shangri-la of ekiben.

Ekiben were first sold in the Meiji period (1868-1912). In 1885, when the Ueno-Utsunomiya train line opened, Shirokiya, an inn in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, sold two rice balls with two pieces of pickled radish for five sen (approx. \1,000 today)—the very first ekiben. In 1970, Expo ’70, the world’s fair, was held in Osaka, and the former Japanese National Railways ran a major travel campaign, “Discover Japan,” which brought on a craze for rail travel outside of organized tours. Ekiben filled with local color were marketed in succession and the varieties multiplied.

Ekiben developed with Japan’s rail system, but wait times and travel times alike have grown shorter with the explosion of rapid express trains and faster speeds in general. Train windows also no longer open up like they used to do, so over time bento stopped being sold directly from train platforms. Events at department stores, though, have boomed, and the opportunities for enjoying ekiben have increased—there is much more demand now outside the station.

“Each part is made carefully by hand, so it doesn’t fall apart even if it tips,” explains Tadatsugu Numamoto, general manager of Nippon Tetsudo Konai Eigyo Chuokai (as of February 2021), an ekiben promotion organization. “Sanitation management is also extremely strict, which is another characteristic of ekiben. There are currently 90 ekiben vendors and 70% of them have been in business for over 100 years. The bento we make are not transitory affairs; they are “100-year” bento that will be passed on to future generations. An ekiben is wonderland in a box.”

Contained in each small box is the passion and delicate aesthetic sensibility of each maker. People around the world have taken notice, charmed perhaps by the culinary culture of the Japanese. In all sorts of everyday occasions, bento bring vitality and warmth, and the value of this, and its presence, appear to be increasing.