SoraNews24 —Japan News—

When this high-school kid opened up the last hand-made bento lunch of his high school life, he found a note from his mother with a sweet and surprising message…

Japan
(bento • high school • parents)

Step outside the cute character bento box with this amazing 3-D onigiri rice ball collection

Oona McGee
Jan 4, 2016

From Pikachu to Totoro, these onigiri rice balls are as cute as they are delicious-looking!

Internet, SE Asia
(anime • bento • cute • Doraemon • Ghibli • Gudetama • kyaraben • onigiri • Pikachu • Studio Ghibli)

Does kangaroo meat work with Japanese seasonings? 【Taste test】

Casey Baseel
Dec 17, 2015

There’s a new take-out place in Tokyo selling kangaroo bento boxed lunches, so we hopped on over to try them for ourselves.

Japan
(bento • food • Harajuku • kangaroo • restaurants • taste test • Tokyo)

Cheapo News: We found this supermarket chain selling stupid cheap bento in west Japan

Mike
Nov 21, 2015

If we had to pick one thing that represented how Japanese food maybe isn’t quite as healthy as generally perceived, it would probably have to be the bento lunchbox. Bento are readily available practically everywhere in Japan—when not being handmade for you by a parent or spouse, usually in the shape of Pokémon characters and the like—and are widely consumed by office workers and other day laborers as a cheap, convenient lunch.

Despite healthy origins back in the old days, bento—perhaps by design—have become increasingly unhealthy, with your standard box available from a retailer or food truck usually weighing in at a thousand calories (or frequently even more) and containing a bunch of fried food in addition to huge portions of rice.

But heck, when a filling, albeit cholesterol and calorie-packed bento sets you back only a measly 200 yen (US$1.50) over at discount supermarket Lamu, well, we’ll happily do the extra time on the treadmill.

Japan
(bento • cheap • Chubu • fast food • food • Kansai • tips)

The cutest, must-have bento lunchboxes you can buy and eat on the train

Amy Chavez
Nov 3, 2015

Japanese often say that a good view makes a meal taste better, so it goes without saying that a cute-looking lunchbox would also enhance the contents inside. From meals served in Shinkansen-shaped containers or rabbit-faced boxes that can be reused as coin banks, to lunch boxes that play music or have collector’s items hidden inside, Japan’s ekiben take Japanese food to a whole new level.

Today we’d like to tell you about “Ekiben”, a little book by Aki Tomura which introduces the best and most unique train station lunch boxes in Japan. We’ve chosen just a few to highlight from this gorgeously photographed, pocket-size book. The word Ekiben is a combination of two Japanese words: eki (station) and bento (lunchbox), so **make your next train trip a gourmet ride with these bento available at various JR stations—**just waiting for you to buy, smile, and devour.

Let the fun begin!

Japan
(bento • cute • Ekiben • Japanese food • JR • Kawaii • travel)

Beyond bento — Amazing laser-cut seaweed makes its mark on the artistic world

KK Miller
Oct 30, 2015

Lunch-making parents in Japan have long been infusing their midday meals with fun characters designed to please the eye along with the taste buds. A common ingredient used for detail and decoration is the humble dried seaweed sheet called nori. The dark color makes it perfect for creating lines and patterns, and since it comes in a flat sheet you can cut out some fairly detailed shapes with a knife. If you quickly browse through some amazing character bento we’ve shared with you before, you’ll see the important role that seaweed plays in their design.

However, it’s not only good in a supporting role; world-renowned seaweed shop Kozen wants to elevate it to a star in the art world! Forget all the other ingredients you might find in a bento, “Nori Art” is all you need to turn your next meal into an unforgettable feast.

Japan
(art • bento • food • Japanese food • Nori Art • pretty • seaweed • sushi)

Japanese boxed lunches pulling into France at authentic bento stand opening in Paris station

Casey Baseel
Oct 22, 2015

In just about every major train station in Japan, you’ll find a stand selling boxed lunches called ekiben. A combination of the words eki (“station”) and bento (“boxed lunch”), ekiben serve as a tasty, convenient meal for travelers to dine on as they watch the scenery slip by outside their window.

Given that trains are terrestrial transportation, and that Japan is an island nation, until now you’ve generally had to come to Japan in order to get your hands on authentic station bento. That’s changing soon, though, with the opening of an ekiben stand in a rail station in Paris.

Europe, Japan
(bento • boxed lunches • Ekiben • food • france • paris • trains • travel)

Japanese restaurant’s mouth-watering bento lunch models entice adorably hungry kitty 【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Oct 15, 2015

Many foreigners who travel to Japan are relieved to find that it’s common for restaurants here to have a display window filled with plastic models of the food they serve, which is a huge help in getting around the language barrier. That’s not really why restaurants have them, though. After all, the potential number of foreign customers is a drop in the bucket compared to the native Japanese population that has no trouble reading the menu or placing an order.

The real reason for those plastic models is that they catch the eye and stimulate the appetite of passersby, be they foreign tourist, local resident, or adorable cat.

Japan
(animals • bento • cats • cute • food models • funny • restaurants)

Awesome lunch boxes full of Disney’s Tsum Tsum characters are almost too cute to eat!【Photos】

Preston Phro
Sep 24, 2015

As we expect you already know, character lunch boxes or “chara-ben,” short for “character bento,” are all the rage in Japan. And their creators are rarely shy about sharing their awesome work, so you can find hundreds of examples of how to make lunch time more adorable on social media networks like Instagram and Twitter.

One of the biggest themes for chara-ben right now is Disney’s Tsum Tsum, a line of stuffed toys that has been adapted into a smartphone game by Line. There were so many great photos, we had to compile our favorite Tsum Tsum chara-ben shots from Instagram for you to check out. But don’t forget to grab a snack, because you’re definitely going to get hungry!

Internet, Japan
(bento • chara-ben • character bento • cooking • cute • Disney • food • tsum tsum)

Official Sailor Jupiter bento boxed lunches being served now at Tokyo anime-themed cafe 【Photos】

Casey Baseel
Sep 17, 2015

Maybe we’re just predisposed to thinking with our stomachs, but even with all the brightly colored pleated skirts and magical monster battles in Sailor Moon, we always find our attention drawn to the food that shows up in the hit anime series. So when we heard that the official Sailor Jupiter bento boxed lunch is now being offered by a Tokyo cafe, took a break from marathoning episodes of the magical girl saga to go and try it for ourselves.

Japan
(anime • bento • cafes • food • manga • Meg • restaurants • Sailor Moon • themed restaurants • Tokyo)

We made Sailor Jupiter’s out-of-this-world bento, and you can too! 【RocketKitchen】

Scott Wilson
Jun 15, 2015

Recently we’ve been seeing a lot of ways for you to express your inner sailor scout. There’s Sailor Moon pajamas, Sailor Moon cellphones, and even Sailor Moon designer bags and, um, menstrual pads.

But what about when you want to eat like one of the sailor scouts? Well that’s something we at RocketNews24 have been wondering ourselves, so we decided to try making one of Sailor Jupiter’s legendary bento boxes. How did it turn out? Let’s just say we ran into some interesting characters along the way….

Japan
(bento • cooking • RocketKitchen • Sailor Moon)

The Mother of all Bentos–a Japanese meal that’s to die for

Amy Chavez
May 14, 2015

If you’ve been to Japan, you may have been told about the two most common table etiquette faux pas, both related to funerals and death. If you’re not very familiar with Japanese customs, these gaffes are way too easy to commit because on the surface, nothing seems obviously wrong with them.

Since we at RocketNews24 believe that unraveling the mysteries of Japanese culture is part of the fun of traveling and even living in Japan, in this article we’re going to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where no gaijin has gone before: We’re going to reveal the meaning behind the mother of all lunch boxes: the funeral bento. It’s big, it’s bulky, it’s boisterous, and it’s drop-dead gorgeous.

This veritable feast in a box contains a seven-course meal which is big enough to share with the deceased. Yep, that’s right. Join us while we eat with the dead. Read on!

Japan
(bento • funeral • Japanese food • japanese funeral traditions • ozen)

We try some chicken ramen-flavored ice cream at Chikira-House in Osaka

Master Blaster
Apr 5, 2015

Alongside Kit Kat bars, carbonated beverages, and potato chips, ice cream is one food Japanese flavor engineers love to monkey with. In the past we’ve seen frozen desserts flavored with great tastes such as scallops, vegetables, and pork.

This time we caught word of a little shop in Shin-Osaka Station offering travelers the cold and creamy taste of chicken ramen-flavored ice cream. So we hopped a train over to check it out and grab a self-heating chiki-bento while we were at it.

Japan
(bento • Chikin Ramen • Ekiben • ice cream • Osaka • ramen)

We try one ekiben shop’s three most popular bento boxes- out of a selection of 170 kinds

Audrey Akcasu
Feb 27, 2015

On March 14, the new extension of the Nagano Shinkansen line will open, connecting Toyama and Ishikawa Prefectures to Tokyo. This is exciting news for Chubu region locals and Tokyoites alike, as the trip from the northern central prefectures to Tokyo will take a mere 2.5 hours, so everyone is preparing for some fun day trips!

What’s the best part of Shinkansen day trips (other than effortlessly speeding through beautiful Japanese countryside)? Ekiben! Ekiben are lunch boxes sold in train stations, specifically to be taken on long train rides. One of our Tokyo-based writers visited a famous ekiben shop, which sells over 170 bento box options and ate the top three kinds. Do they deserve their rankings at the top?

Japan
(bento • Ekiben • food • shinkansen • taste test • trains)

Japanese net users surprised to learn that painfully cute bento was in fact made by a teenage boy

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 29, 2015

What did you have for lunch today? If you’re anything like me, it was probably nothing special – just something to keep you going until the end of the day. Oh, how wonderful it would be to be blessed with the skills (or a skilled family member) to make outrageously accurate kyaraben, i.e. packed lunches intricately designed to look like various characters! Lunch could be so much more entertaining!

Since not all moms are adept at creating kyaraben, some kids have taken their decorative lunches into their own hands. And by kids, I don’t just mean girls…

Japan
(bento • characters • Disney • kyaraben • lunch box)

Kyaraben roundup! We take a look back at 2014’s best packed lunches 【Pics】

Evie Nyan
Dec 30, 2014

The Kyaraben trend is still going strong in Japan, and even though winter has prompted some to make the temporary switch to deco-nabe, the demand for adorable packed lunches shows no signs of abating. Today we’d like to take a look back over the best of the past year’s Kyaraben. What can we learn about 2014 in Japan from studying these perfect works of edible art?

Japan
(Anna and the Snow Queen • bento • character bento • cute • food • frozen • Funassyi • Ghibli • Kawaii • Kumamon • kyaraben • mascot • Mickey • Pikachu • Youkai Watch)

Beautiful models and actresses delivering boxed lunches in Tokyo with new bento service

Casey Baseel
Nov 7, 2014

Bento, Japan’s multi-dish boxed lunches, come in a variety of styles. While it’s most common to make your own or pick one up at a cheap takeout joint, there’s also a whole sub-industry of high-class bento delivery services that cater business conferences and other high-rolling events.

Of course, rich and powerful clients tend to have demands as high as their positions on the corporate ladder. They expect the food to be delicious, the service to be impeccable, and now, with Platinum Lunch, they can expect their bento to be delivered by beautiful models and actresses.