Food - Drink
Here's What To Expect From Japanese Obento
By HALDAN KIRSCH
Obento, packed lunches organized to be visually pleasing as well as nutritious, originated around 1568 during Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period in the form of tightly packed wooden lacquered boxes and has gained prominence over the centuries. A special obento (or bento) called Kyaraben is designed to resemble characters from cartoons, anime, or manga.
There are several different categories of obento, but a typical obento is usually made up of three parts rice, one part meat, and two parts fruits and vegetables. A frequent color combination is red, yellow, and green, and this palette helps the obento box be more visually attractive.
Obento is a meal enjoyed any time of the day, as it usually contains foods that can be eaten cold. Traditional Japanese dishes like onigiri (rice balls) and tamagoyaki (omelets) are frequently used, and the foods are separated by leaves, papers, or plastic partitions and tightly packed to ensure that nothing shifts around.