Bento fans all over the world know about Bento&co. Based in Kyoto, Japan, Bento&co sells only bento boxes and related products, and their ever-evolving catalog features items reflecting the best of Japanese bento box design, from cute to modern-minimalist to traditional. It's also one of the few online stores catering to the international market that carries real Japanese wood and stainless steel bento boxes. All the products they carry are made in Japan, with the exception of some bento accessories that are designed in Japan and manufactured in China.

And, this is the item they're giving away. It's the impossibly cute Kokeshi Bento box! I understand that these have been flying off their shelves, so I'm really glad that we can give away one right here on JustBento. One lucky winner will win their choice of one of the Kokeshi Bento boxes pictured below.

A kokeshi is a traditional Japanese doll made of turned wood. They originated in the northern parts of Honshuu, the main island in Japan, but nowadays you see them sold everywhere in Japan. Japanese people love kokeshi; they're so iconic that Nintendo took their inspiration for the Mii avatars used in Wii games from the kokeshi form.

The Kokeshi Bento box is made to look like a kokeshi doll, but is made of practical, microwave-safe plastic (remove the inner lids before microwaving). The box has three main parts: two stacking round layers for your regular bento food with leakproof lids, plus a small bowl that can be used for soup, fruit, cereal, and so on. (Note that the bowl is not water-tight; the idea is to bring along a packet of instant soup or your own vegetable soup concentrate, and to add hot water in the bowl with the soup mix when you're ready to eat.) The bowl inverts on top of the stack to form the head of each kokeshi character, and a bento band is included to hold things together.

The total capacity of the box is 640ml - 200ml for each stacking tier, and 240ml for the bowl. It's suitable for adults with small appetites.

How to enter the Bento&co giveaway

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Thank you everyone who entered! The winner will be announced later this week.

This giveaway is open to everyone, worldwide - or at least, anywhere that Bento&co can ship! (If in doubt, please ask them first.)

To enter, just leave a comment to this post. The question to answer for this giveaway is - what is your favorite bento/lunch food? If you have a link to a recipe, please post that too.

Be sure to include a valid email address where you can be contacted in the appropriate text box! Your comment must be posted by 23:59:59 EDT (U.S. East Coast Time) (or just before midnight) of Tuesday, August 24th 2010. One lucky entry will be drawn at random to receive a Kokeshi Bento box of their choice. Good luck!

This is Giveaway No. 5 of Back To School Week. The week is just about over...but we'll have just one more over the weekend, so stay tuned!