Update: The box has been sold for an amazing $380! I want to protect the privacy of the winning bidder, but I can reveal she's from the south-eastern part of the U.S., and she's going to gift it to her 85 year old mother. What a lovely gift, and thought!

As I've posted already, some of my fellow bento bloggers have done a terrific job organizing the Bento4Japan fundraising site to raise money for Japan's disaster relief. Here's my first offering - a beautiful, hand-crafted magewappa bento box from Akita prefecture in northern Japan. I've been meaning to write about the Yoshinobu Shibata workshop for some time - I even visited them up in Odate, Akita in November - but I've been dragging my feet, because I wasn't sure how best to describe the fantastic quality of their boxes. You may have seen other magewappa (bent wood) boxes, or even own one - but this is the ultimate, the creme de la creme of magewappa boxes being made in Japan today.

I have to admit I had a hard time parting with mine...but, I can get another one (I plan to when I get to their boutique in Asakusa, not far from the famous Kaminari-mon) but I hope it will raise a lot of money. 100% of the proceeds will go to to GlobalGiving's Japan Relief fund, and I'll pay for airmail shipping worldwide. If you win, you may have to pay customs duties. (It'll be shipped from Switzerland.)

Anyway, I hope you take a look! Here is the auction page. Be sure to check out the other Bento4Japan goings on too!

I'm now off to the airport in a couple of hours to fly to Tokyo. I'll be checking in after I settle in.