Oh yeah, it’s bento time! You’ve never seen a bento until you’ve seen one of these…
March 24th, 2010
Hey!
The cherry blossoms have started blooming here in Japan which means Spring is finally here! The weather’s warming up, kids are gearing up for the new school year, and mothers are rushing to the store to pick up the latest bento goods!
Wait…bento goods?
Yes, bento goods! Have you ever heard of deko-ben or kyara-ben?!? If not, this episode is a MUST SEE!
-Kevin
Thanks for sharing ^^ We recently had a bento box competition but would have been nice if someone talked about the deco bento on our site. @_@
I used not to see any video till the end but not this time.
Although my colloquial english is not so good.
Japan will never end to amaze, yea!
Go ahead!
Hmmm intresting see as japanese as my dad is which is part he never once made me bentos of any type as for my mom she probably doesnt even know what a bent is. I dream for bento when i go abroad soon!! I also heard about that new tower the “Tokyo Sky Tree” its big but i still like the TT(Tokyo Tower) Also another place i dream for when i leave! Cant wait for the exciting news!!! Itikimasu!
Great video on obento lunch, Kevin! You are right-on about the deko-bento competition between kids mothers as kids compare (かわいい べんとう) cute bentos at lunch time. Great way to get fussy kids to eat all their lunch! Department store bento counters and supermarkets are also selling ready made pinkish looking “spring obentos” (はるべんとう）as we head into the “cherry blossom season”.
I think this goes to the heart of traditional food preparation in Japanese culture and the equal importance of how something is esthetically presented to the consumer, whether a cute box lunch, home or restaurant dining or a gift.
Some “deko bento” goods can be found online at: http://en.item.rakuten.com/ultramix/835120/
Time for me to make a peanut butter jelly sandwich for lunch, cut-out in “Ultraman” shape!
戴きます!
タロー
my family & i live in japan & my son goes to youchien now…where even at 3-6 years old, the kids love comparing how cool their o-bento are! thanks for the deko bento link, by the way.
thanks for the comments everyone! glad you enjoyed this episode
wow thats obsessive in my mind…but maybe i’m just jealous
great episode!!
the stuff the have is insane- it really does seem like an art!
the tower is really amazing too!! that has to be one of the world’s tallest commercial buildings! (it is commercial, right? a radio tower?)
anyways, thanks as always and keep up the amazing work!!
ps- are you going to do a video on the cherry blossom trees and such? just curious. that stuff fascinates me
@dani yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s main use is going to be as a digital broadcast tower. But, I’m assuming there will be some sort of observation deck like Tokyo Tower has.
Anyway, I’m going to try to get some video of cherry blossoms and stuff when the weather warms up a little…the weather’s been weird the last few days and it actually snowed for a few hours this morning!
Hey!! I’ve just discovered this blog and I all I have to say is…DOMO ARIGATOU!! I’m traveling to Japan tomorrow XD so all these tips and spotlights on japanese culture are quite useful for me at this time XD I can’t wait to see the cherry blossoms!!! *w* and I absolutely loved this deko-ben episode as a non-japanese bento ethusiast myself XD
Is weather really that crazy? o_O ’cause though I haven’t packed yet….winter clothing was not on my list ’till now o_O
Well, gotta go =D Awesome episodes and blog in genereal and thanks again!!! Jya ne~!! =D
@bere thanks for the comment! yeah, the weather has been strange this year. I’m not sure where you’re headed, but it looks like Tokyo’s going to be around 12-18 degrees C this week (or around 54-64 degrees F). Hope this helps with your packing and I hope you enjoy your trip!
Theese are so adorable!
I take japanese lessons with a few one of my friends with a personal native teacher and our site is a nice asset to learning about the culture. We love visiting your site!
I hope by the time i can afford to travel to Japan,they will still be
popular.
Very nice video, I am eagerly waiting for the next one
Kevin-san is adorable. You are very cute!
Wow! I’ve had a bento in a restaurant in London once but I’d never even heard of deko-ben before now. That’s amazing! I hope I’ll be able to try it one day!
this is the kind of stuff i love about japan: turning lunch into art
That looked so cool!!! You should make a demonstration video. You could make a bento box for Happy Hour Japan, with HHJ on it.