Popular Lunch Cuisine: Obento (Japanese boxed meals)
Just after
Obento or Bento are boxed meals which can be taken anywhere to eat. School children bring hand-made Obento for lunch if their school does not provide any kyu-shoku (school lunch). At the workplace, Obento is eaten at the desk or outdoors. Ekiben (railway boxed meals) are another popular Obento which are sold on trains or at train stations in Japan.
Increase of Nakashoku (Take-out foods)
Take-out foods such as Obento and Souzai (cooked dishes) have recently become popular among Japanese households.
According to the Food Service Industry Research Institute, the market size of Nakashoku (take-out foods) in 2006 increased from the previous year by 1.3%, while the overall market size for dining-out industries decreased by 0.1% in 2006. Cooked dishes can be served at the dining table at home, or can be put into hand-made Obento as main or side dishes.
INSIGHTS OUT – Why Obento attracts Japanese?
1. Choice and Appearance
Various types of good-looking Obento attract the Japanese. There are many kinds of Obento, ranging from Japanese-style Obento consisting of rice, fish or cutlets, pickles and vegetables as a side dish; to Donburi (rice ball dish) consisting of rice topped with meat or steamed vegetables. They are garnished beautifully with different colored ingredients. The variety ensures that consumers do not get tired of eating Obento.
2. Nutritionally Balanced
Obento also attracts health-conscious consumers. For example, Makunouchi Bento, consisting of rice, fish or meat, and a side dish such as vegetables, looks colorful as well as being nutritionally balanced. Recently, ‘Anti-metabolic syndrome Bento’ has become popular among people who are worried about metabolic syndrome.
3. Convenience
Obento can be eaten anywhere. Busy office workers eat Obento at their desks or in meeting rooms with their colleagues. On sunny days, groups of office workers eat Obento at the Hibiya Park in Tokyo at lunchtime.
4. Low Cost
Obento is good for households who wish to save money, especially during economic downturns. Buying Obento is normally cheaper than dining out for lunch. You can pay only 500 yen for Obento, whereas you may pay 1,000 yen or more to eat lunch at a Japanese restaurant. Furthermore, hand-made Obento using left over foods means that lunch can cost almost nothing.
5. Communicating Feelings
Last but not least, hand-made Obento is a good way to communicate your feelings towards loved ones. Even very busy working mothers prepare hand-made Obento for their children because they want their children to enjoy their lunch. Also, their children look forward to eating the Obento that their mothers make for them.
Recent incidences such as frozen Gyoza (dumpling) poisoning and scandals of mislabeling hamburger patties has encouraged Japanese to hand-make their own dishes. By hand-making meals, you can make sure every ingredient you use is known, as well as knowing how it is cooked; though it is burdensome for working families to cook all dishes on their own.
February 15 2008 09:18 am | Clothing, Food and Housing
Ken on 24 Feb 2008 at 4:22 AM #
But do they have Chinese ingredients? Ishihara’s calls to have the source of all ingredients listed is pretty interesting - I think it illustrates that hand-making food at home does not guarantee that one will know where all ingredients come from. The shichimi made be ‘made’ in Japan, but five of the seven spices might have been sourced from overseas.
On February 14, the Ekiben competition was held in Fukuoa. Interesting stuff…and the winner was from Kagoshima.
Noriko on 25 Feb 2008 at 8:45 AM #
What Japanese consumers can do is minimizing the food poisoning incidence further by not buying “frozen foods made in Japan.” It is almost impossible for consumers to inspect all of the ingredients we eat.
And importantly, not all foods made in China are contaminated. There are Chinese food manufacturers who produce quality products. I am sorry that their businesses are affected by the incidence. I hope that the police and the governments will find out the cause sooner.
Basic Bento « Play With Your Food on 26 Mar 2008 at 10:40 AM #
[...] 1980s, Bentos gained popularity again because of convenience stores and microwaves. Today, there is plethora of [...]
sam on 29 Oct 2009 at 8:30 PM #
obento lunch is AWESOME!!!
i luv it.
so delicious.
varities are also wide and different