Just Bento

I’m busy getting ready for the photo shoot for the bento cookbook, which starts next week, so I don’t have a lot of time for long posts at the moment. So I thought I’d do a brief write up of this bento I had for lunch today. It’s a good example of a higher-end takeout bento, of the kind you might buy in the food hall of a department store, at specialized stores or stalls in the bigger train stations, and so on. continue reading...

One of the questions asked in the comments to my first Japan trip report was what kind of healthy ‘fast-food’ options there were. In that vein, I thought I’d talk about something that you can see for yourself, in a way. You might have heard already how totally awesome Japan’s convenience stores, called conbini or konbini, are. They are like the 24 hour delis and bodegas that you see all around a big city like New York in a sense, but go several steps further in terms of customer service. Competition is fierce between the major conbini chains like Lawson, Family Mart, and 7-11, and competition between the conbinis and the fast food restaurants for the quick-meal market is quite serious too.

Japan’s 7-11s are not quite the same as the ones in the U.S. to say the least. One of the services they offer is takeaway or home delivery of pre-ordered meals, including bentos. They have a dedicated web site for this service, called 7meal (セブン・ミール) (in Japanese only.) continue reading...

In case you don’t follow my other food blog, Just Hungry, I am in Japan for the next 3 months. I’ll be reporting on non-bento stuff over there, but of course I’ll be posting about bento related things here!

I just got here yesterday, so I don’t have much to report yet, but here are some photos of takeout bentos available locally, in the suburban area of Yokohama (a major port city near Tokyo) where my mother and stepfather live. continue reading...

A new movie opened in Japan in late September called Nonchan Noriben (the rather sparse listing on IMDB). Here’s a trailer:

The Nonchan part of the title is the name of the little daughter of the main character, Komaki. The Noriben part of the title refers to the name of a classic type of bento. I explained how a noriben is made here, as well as a little bit of the culture behind it. Basically, any bento consisting of layers of rice and nori seaweed is a noriben. continue reading...

I am a bit wary of putting Japanese YouTube videos here, because soon after I do they seem to be taken down. But I’m taking a chance with this one (via sherimiya on Twitter) because it’s just too funny. It’s from a program on TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), one of the major Japanese TV networks, called Jitan Seikatsu Gaido Shou (時短生活ガイドショー), an infotainment show about how to save time in all kinds of ways. continue reading...

Bentos are just starting to penetrate the consciousness of people outside of Japan, though judging from the growing interest in bento sites like this one and several others, it’s definitely trending up. However, the bento or obento (the more polite honorific term) in its many guises is an integral part of life in Japan. Here are the many different types of bento that a typical Japanese person might eat at different stages of life. continue reading...

Some bento and onigiri related news that caught my eye recently. Single guys toting homemade bento to work; cheap bento options getting popular; Spam attacks Japan! and more. continue reading...

Recently, Mark from CalorieLab went shopping armed with a camera in Japan, and took some pictures of the bento supply displays at several stores. He’s very kindly allowed us to share them with you here. So come along for a virtual bento supply shopping trip in some typical stores in Japan. continue reading...