Bento

[citation needed] A traditional bento typically includes rice or noodles with fish or some other meat, often with pickled and cooked vegetables in a box.

Dividers are often used to separate ingredients or dishes, especially those with strong flavors, to avoid them affecting the taste of the rest of the meal.

A typical divider is green plastic 'sushi grass', known as baran in Japan, which also works to slow the growth of bacteria.

There are comparable forms of boxed lunches in other Asian countries such as in China, Taiwan and other Sinophone communities, known as héfàn (盒饭) or biàndāng in Mandarin, piān-tong in Taiwanese Hokkien, and in Korea as dosirak.

In mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, bento remains written as the original name 便當 (pinyin: biàndāng).

[2] A hoshi-ii can be eaten as-is or boiled with water to make cooked rice, and is stored in a small bag.

In the Taishō era (1912–1926), the aluminium bento box became a luxury item because of its ease of cleaning and its silver-like appearance.

Disparities in wealth spread during this period after an export boom during World War I and subsequent crop failures in the Tōhoku region.

After World War II, the practice of bringing bento to school gradually declined and was replaced by uniform meals provided for all students and teachers.

Because making bento can take a while, some mothers will prepare the ingredients the night before, and then assemble and pack everything the following morning before their children go to school.

[9] It is often a social expectation of mothers to provide bento for their children, to create both a nutritionally balanced and aesthetically pleasing meal.

Osechi, an assortment of foods eaten around the Japanese New Year, is typically arranged in a multi-tiered jūbako box, similarly to bento.

The bento made its way to Taiwan in the first half of the 20th century during the Japanese colonial period and remains popular to the present day.

A modern Taiwanese bento always includes protein, such as a crispy fried chicken leg or a piece of grilled mackerel and marinated pork chop, as well as side dishes.

[23] Joseph Jay Tobin in 1992 discussed how the meticulous assembly of individual bento boxes has been aided by the reinterpretation of Western goods, practices, and ideas through a process he classified as domestication.