Spring Break
The artwork that is Obento
ISOSU
Issue date: 1/29/08 Section: Forum
In Japan, I find many words come from different countries and people use the words without knowing the real meanings.
For example, since elementary school, when people would make mistakes and feel down, I used to say, "Don Mai." When I learned English in high school, I realized that "Don Mai" is an English phrase, which means "Don't mind."
I am always amazed by learning the small story behind words. Since I came to the United States, I have noticed many Japanese words here, such as anime (Japanese animation), futon (mattress for Japanese bed), tsunami (large wave caused by earthquakes), origami (paper-folding), sudoku (number placement puzzle) and obento (lunch box).
In this article, I would like to explain more about obento and share a little about the different types of obento - they all depend on either what time they are eaten, where they are eaten, where they are sold, their purpose and who prepared them.
Obento is like an art. I was always excited to open the lunch box, because my mother always decorated the lunch box to be beautiful and original.
People usually try make the obento look pretty by using a variety of colors. Typically people get creative with the food in obento with sausages shaped like octopi, apples shaped like rabbits and red plums in the middle of plain white rice to look like the Japanese flag. Even thought I was hungry, I always enjoyed looking at the food.
As I said before, obento have different names for many different reasons.
Obento sold at the train station are called "Eki Ben." ("Eki" means "train station," and "Ben" is short for "obento.") At the train station, the special obento are sold to people who travel by train. Each train station in each prefecture (what Americans would call a state) sells its special obento, which include its famous regional foods.
When I used to travel with my family, my father would get off the train when we stopped for few minutes just to buy special obento containing regional foods. I was always nervous that he wouldn't make it back in time before we left the station.
For example, since elementary school, when people would make mistakes and feel down, I used to say, "Don Mai." When I learned English in high school, I realized that "Don Mai" is an English phrase, which means "Don't mind."
I am always amazed by learning the small story behind words. Since I came to the United States, I have noticed many Japanese words here, such as anime (Japanese animation), futon (mattress for Japanese bed), tsunami (large wave caused by earthquakes), origami (paper-folding), sudoku (number placement puzzle) and obento (lunch box).
In this article, I would like to explain more about obento and share a little about the different types of obento - they all depend on either what time they are eaten, where they are eaten, where they are sold, their purpose and who prepared them.
Obento is like an art. I was always excited to open the lunch box, because my mother always decorated the lunch box to be beautiful and original.
People usually try make the obento look pretty by using a variety of colors. Typically people get creative with the food in obento with sausages shaped like octopi, apples shaped like rabbits and red plums in the middle of plain white rice to look like the Japanese flag. Even thought I was hungry, I always enjoyed looking at the food.
As I said before, obento have different names for many different reasons.
Obento sold at the train station are called "Eki Ben." ("Eki" means "train station," and "Ben" is short for "obento.") At the train station, the special obento are sold to people who travel by train. Each train station in each prefecture (what Americans would call a state) sells its special obento, which include its famous regional foods.
When I used to travel with my family, my father would get off the train when we stopped for few minutes just to buy special obento containing regional foods. I was always nervous that he wouldn't make it back in time before we left the station.
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