Honzen-ryōri (本膳料理) is one of three basic styles of Japanese cuisine and a highly ritualized form of serving food, in which prescribed dishes are carefully arranged and served on legged trays; full-course dinner, regular dinner.
This corresponded with the rise and subsequent entrenchment of the power of the warrior class vis-a-vis the nobility.
During the Muromachi period after the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in the 14th century, developed an elaborate formal system of meal-serving, known as (honzen-ryōri (本膳料理).
[1] The meals for guests are served on sanpō (三方), where the tray (technically called oshiki (折敷)) is supported underneath by a boxlike frame with three of the sides hollowed by large holes.
[1] Honzen has mostly fallen out of practice in the post-World War II period.