Bento!!!!

Last week I got to visit an English class for very young learners in Tokyo led by Justin of Tiny Tots Japan.  It was a great class and a lot of fun.  After class, it was time for lunch and all the young girls brought out their bento boxes. 

Now...when I was a kid going to kindergarten, I ate peanut butter and cheese sandwiches (which I apparently loved) dented by the apple which shared the same brown-paper-bag home.  So I really enjoy looking at the beautiful packed lunches young Japanese students eat.  A typical bento (Japanese lunchbox) for young kids has onigiri (rice balls wrapped in seaweed), and an assortment of small foods like sausages, croquettes, vegetables, tamagoyaki (a kind of rolled egg omelette),etc. 

Here are a few pictures I snapped with my camera phone of the bentos.  How excited do you think the kids are to open their lunch boxes when they have lunches like this?

 

What did you eat for lunch when you were a kid? 

Comments

[Mama Lisa]

I have to admit, I loved fluffernutter sandwiches! They're sandwiches made with marshmallow fluff spread on one side and peanutbutter on the other. Gooey!

(Not that my mother let me eat them all the time.)

[Troy McDonald]

Tuna Sandwiches! And I think I ate too many because one day I just stopped eating them and haven't eaten any seafood in about 20 years.
Japanese kids' obentos--cute but there is definitely an unspoken competition between kindergarten mom's to make the cutest obento. There was always one child in every class that came with plain old sandwiches. Those poor kids will probably end up with a complex after the way they were looked down upon because of their ordinary lunches. But I always thought those moms were great for being different and standing their ground against the kawaii-bento-making moms.

[Grayson]

MMMMMMMM. Rice balls wrapped in seaweed.

I notice a spoon and fork in the first shot... am I stereotyping by assuming they'd be using chopsticks?

[Troy McDonald]

There is a small slot in the case between the fork and spoon where the chopsticks would be. More than likely the child had them out and was using them. But could be that mom keeps them out depending on the age. Usually young children don't use chopsticks because a/ the don't have the motor skills for them yet, and b/ they can be dangerous. Before they turn three they usually use a spoon or fork, and when they start using chopsticks they often use them just to stab their food to pick it up at first before they are able to use them properly.

[Patrick]

I saw Justin in Tokyo last week and he's not a tiny tot at all. He's gynormous! He was towering over the rest of the audience. They should call the school Gentle Giants or the Magic Beanstalk or something!.

[Keegan]

I just found your page by accident searching for "kawaii" and for onigiri. Your photos are fabulous :) thank you

[Coffee and Vanilla]

Hello :)

Very nice lunchboxes :)
I'm hosting this month Wholesome Lunchbox event and I would love to have your entry.

Have a good day, Margot

Wholesome Lunchbox event
http://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=1429