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The Art of Bento: Exploring Japan's Iconic Lunch Box Tradition
Nothing screams Asian lunch tradition more than the bento box from Japan. This iconic lunch box has been packing household, school, and office meals for centuries. We’re about to uncover why people love the bento box so much and how you can get the most out of it.
Introduction:
If you’ve ever seen the Japanese culinary scene, you may have noticed people eating out of a small box made up of multiple compartments. That compact, visually appealing meal is called a bento.
The concept of serving food in bento boxes stems from the need to reflect the Japanese values of beauty, simplicity, and balance in meals. However, other countries have their own versions of the lunch box. In China, they call it héfàn. Bento in Taiwan is piān-tong or phien-tông, and the Koreans call theirs dosirak. All of these lunch boxes have different names and components, but their principles remain the same. They’re all simple containers packed with nutritious local food organized into different compartments.
In Japan, bento boxes are highly commercialized goods. You can buy them in convenience stores, department stores, bento shops, and railway stations. However, homemakers still serve food in traditional bento for their children, spouses, and other family members. The bento offers a simple way to serve a single-portion meal in separate compartments, allowing you to save utensils, space, and plastic bags. Because it often contains a portion of rice or noodles, protein, and vegetables, bento is also highly nutritious.
What is a Bento Box?
A bento box is the Japanese version of a single-portion boxed takeout or home-cooked meal. It consists of several kinds of food organized into its different compartments. Hence, you can use it to neatly arrange and serve portions of various foods, such as rice, meat, fish, and vegetables. The bento box can be made from wood, metal, or plastic. It’s mostly rectangular in shape, but circular versions are not uncommon. What matters most is that it’s compact and compartmentalized.
There’s no set rule on the type of food to put in your bento box. However, the three main components of the Japanese bento are starchy food, protein, and vegetables. We discuss these components in detail below.
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Starchy food: Most bento boxes contain at least one starchy food, which is typically rice. Noodles are a popular alternative.
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Protein: There are lots of different protein options to choose from. Your bento box could contain beef, chicken, pork, eggs, or seafood.
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Vegetables: Bento boxes often contain vegetables and fruits as side dishes. Common additions are carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, and apple slices.
A bento box has so much more to offer than your regular lunch box. It provides a healthy portion of essential nutrients, looks good in real life and in pictures, and offers better control over food portions. Bento boxes are also environmentally friendly because they limit waste and plastic bag usage. The bento is more than just a meal container in Japanese culture. It’s an embodiment of core traditional values such as aesthetics, convenience, and balance. These values are often reflected in the meticulous arrangement of traditional bento.
History of the Bento Box
The bento originated in the Kamakura Period (1185–1333). Japanese travelers and warriors discovered a way to pack dried rice (hoshi-ii) in a small bag and boil it on demand. With the mass production of wooden lacquered boxes in the 16th century, the first version of the bento became popular at tea parties and cherry blossom viewings (hanami). The Edo Period (1603–1867) would see even more bento versions appear, including the koshibento and makuno-uchi bento.
Bento would rise to nationwide prominence in the early years of the 1900s. Most parents used it to pack lunch for kids before school. The popularity of the box caused the rise of ready-made bento meals sold at train stations. These meals were called ekiben (or ekibento).
Bento regained fame in Japan after experiencing a decline due to the aftereffects of the two World Wars. This time, it took the form of products sold at convenience stores. Companies like 7-Eleven and FamilyMart became famous for selling affordable and microwavable bento boxes in the 1980s. They replaced wooden and metal boxes with disposable polystyrene boxes. When these stores went global in the late 1990s and early 2000s, so did the Japanese bento box. Today, you’ll find bento in countries all over the world.
Types of Bento Boxes
There are multiple ways to categorize these lunch boxes. We could do so based on their ingredients, container, design or style, and sale location. Let’s take a deep dive into the types of bento boxes based on those four criteria.
Bento Boxes By Container or Case
The material used to make a bento defines it. Initially, wood and metal were the only two types of bento containers available. However, other materials have been added as the world becomes more conscious of the environment.
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Wooden: Traditional bento boxes were made of wood. They were mostly hand-crafted lacquerware that took a lot of time and skill to make.
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Metal: In the past, aluminum bento boxes were common. However, most metal bentos used today are made from stainless steel.
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Plastic: Modern mass-produced and disposable bento boxes are made from plastic. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP) are the common plastic types used for bento. Some American or European-style bento boxes use silicone.
Bento Boxes By Style
Bento style consists of its colors, arrangement, shape, design, and purpose. Hence, there are an infinite number of bento box types according to style. The following are the most common ones:
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Kyaraben: This is called a character bento. Its contents have been arranged to resemble characters from popular video games, anime, and manga. Kyaraben is a favorite among children.
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Wappameshi: This is a round-shaped bento box made of thin sheets of wood.
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Shikaeshiben: This is called revenge bento. It’s either filled with written insults or inedible items. Typically, a wife would use it to get back at her husband.
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Koraku bento: This is made for gatherings and picnics among family or friends.
Bento Boxes By Ingredients
Because of the wide variety of ingredients that can go in a bento, it makes sense to categorize them based on their content. Below are some examples:
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Hinomaru bento: a serving of white rice with umeboshi (pickled ume fruit).
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Sake bento: boiled salmon is the main dish.
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Noriben: a dish made of cooked rice topped with nori seaweed and soy sauce.
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Tori bento: a meal consisting of cooked chicken served over rice.
Bento Boxes By Where They Are Sold
People in Japan love to categorize bento boxes according to where they bought them. This gives an idea of the quality and price of the box. It might also offer an idea of the type of ingredients in the box. Check them out:
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Ekiben: You can buy them at railway stations and even during a train ride.
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Soraben: You can buy them at airports.
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Hokaben: They’re sold as takeouts in bento shops.
DIY Bento: Tips for Making Your Own
Making your own bento box offers you a chance to get as creative as you like in the kitchen. The first step is to find the bento container. It should have at least four compartments to keep ingredients separated. Bento containers are sold in a variety of designs and sizes, but it’s best to get one deep enough to hold the quantity of food you like. It should be microwave- and dishwasher-safe and come with a sealable lid. The material you choose should depend on how you want to use the bento. If you’re thinking of microwaving food, plastic or metal bento are good options.
The next step is to gather bento accessories. These include chopsticks, reusable forks, baking cups, mini-skewers, shape cutters, edible decorations, and toothpicks. Now, you can add the ingredients based on the basic bento components: starchy food, protein, and vegetables.
For starchy food, we recommend that you fill one of the compartments with rice or noodles. The next compartment should contain protein, which could be a hard-boiled egg, grilled chicken, pork slices, or sushi. For the vegetables, carrot sticks, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, and peas are solid options. You also need to add fruits to round up your bento recipe. We recommend orange or apple slices. Feel free to drizzle soy sauce or honey where appropriate. You can also add treats like pretzels and almonds to one compartment.
Crafting the Perfect Bento
Adding ingredients to your bento box should be a meticulous process. There are certain principles to follow if you hope to create a nutritionally balanced bento. One of these principles is the 4-3-2-1 rule, which means that your bento should be 40% rice or noodles, 30% protein, 20% vegetables, and 10% treats. By "treats,” we mean something sweet and light, which could be anything from pickled veggies to store-bought snacks.
While packing food into the bento, remember to separate dry food from wet food. All sauces and liquid dressings should go in bottles or containers separate from the box. Avoid foods that require refrigeration or regular heating to remain edible. Most importantly, your bento should be aesthetically pleasing. You can make sure it looks good by adding colorful fruits and decorating it with fun shapes and designs.
Bento Boxes in Everyday Life
Bento boxes are a major part of everyday life in Japan, where they remain the main way to pack food for people of all social and economic statuses. Parents make bento boxes for their children to take to school and eat during lunch breaks. Some mothers prepare ingredients at night and assemble them in the box the following morning. They also do the same for their working husbands.
Adults often buy bento boxes at train stations and convenience stores as a form of take-out. Ekiben, hokaben, and store-bought bento are popular among busy office workers. On special occasions, such as hanami and tea parties, bento boxes are used to serve meals to each person.
Bento Accessories: Enhancing the Bento Experience
A bento accessory is any item that helps to organize or decorate the bento. Using accessories will simplify the process of making bento and enhance the eating experience. Bento dividers are perhaps the most important of all accessories. They make it easier to separate ingredients and add color to your box. Other common bento accessories are sauce containers used in place of bottles, decorative picks for skewering food, and insulated bento bags for maintaining food temperature.
The Role of Bento in Japanese Festivals and Events
Bento boxes play a special role in Japanese festivals and outdoor events. Virtually any event that involves Japanese food can do with some bento boxes. It’s much cleaner, healthier, and more conservative than a buffet. They are popular at cherry blossom viewing events where people pack lunches to eat while they look at flowers and take pictures. Families on vacation often visit the mountains or seashores together. They pack bento boxes to eat when they get to their destination.
Bento boxes are also an integral part of school events. Students are provided with bento lunches on excursions and official outings. On sports day, an event reserved for intra-school athletic competitions, families gather around at lunchtime to eat from bento boxes.
Conclusion:
Who knew that a food-packing method could have such a deep impact on the culture of an entire country? The bento box reflects the meticulous nature of Japanese culinary arts, and its global appeal makes it a must-try for all food lovers. Check your local Asian store for a box or use our guidelines to make one yourself.
Speaking of boxes from Japan, we’ll send you a special box of delicious Japanese sweets and snacks when you secure a Snack Box subscription with Bokksu. When your box arrives, you can pick an item from it and add it to your homemade bento box as a treat.
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