Machi-con: Local Events Bringing Singles Together

Conpa (konpa in romaji but I'm typing it with a "c"since it makes a bit better sense in English) is an abbreviation of "company" which means relaxed informal drinking parties (Japanese love formal drinking parties as well but that's another story). The term is actually decades old. It means basically gathering for an informal get together. It's pretty close to the American term "having company over" except that the guests meet at a restaurant or bar instead of coming over to someone's home.

As time passed, the shorter abbreviation of "-con" came to mean the "conpa" as a suffix. There used to be other -con words but presently "Gou-con 合コン" (Gou is from "合同 goudou = consolidated, together, implying co-ed" and "conpa") is the most commonly used word; it translates as young singles' co-ed drinking parties.

It's arranged this way. Party organizers call up a number of males and females and invite them to meet for the drinking party. In Japan, these parties take place in Izakayas or restaurants, not in someone's house or apartment since most Japanese rooms are way too small for hosting parties.

These invited guests are usually 20-something and college kids, but Gou-con co-ed drinking parties are arranged for other age groups, too. Another word for informal drinking parties would be "nomikai 飲み会" ; this word is usually used when the party is formed for people who already know each other.

Like parties everywhere, both Gou-con and Nomikai offer opportunities to find a date. Gou-con parties are oriented more to find a date than Nomikai get togethers. In the latter, relationships among the participants are likely to have already been settled.

In Japan traditionally, arranged marriages used to be common and private meeting setups were called "Omiai お見合い". But EEOC dictates and a somewhat questioning attitude from the West about this tradition eventually changed such a practice. Now Omiai arranged by the family or personal acquaintances of the parents are no longer popular. But in fact, studies show that a high percentage of Japanese people in their 20's~30's are single; poor luck or lack of opportunity to meet the opposite gender are often blamed. People having available sources could participate the Gou-con through their friends but many people don't have such connections.

So now enter Public Omiai parties, renamed with the -con suffix to represent the idea being updated, and coupled with a promotion of the local businesses, called "Machi-con (Machi means town)". This translates as town-size company-finding parties.

In these Machi-cons, the local government or community or the government can be the promoter but often they all are tied up and sell the tickets to the general public or a limited public. Event promoters team up with the local restaurants and other businesses. The style varies but commonly the participants buy a ticket and visit freely a number of participating restaurants in the area for a limited time. Other businesses get involved by issuing coupons for special services offered during the event. Participants have opportunities to meet people while visiting those participants restaurants here and there, and enjoying their food and drinks. Japanese love festivals involving food; this is another kind of food festival with local business promotions targeting the dating community. Each event often has a name with the whole or part of the city's name for the prefix and the -con for the suffix, such as Hama-con (Yoko"hama") and Shibu-con ("Shibu"ya).

An example of a popular Machi-con event is Chiba-con, held in Chiba City, of Chiba Prefecture. The number of tickets sold total 300, 150 of each gender. The ticket cost is 5,900 yen for male guests and 3.900 yen for female guests. The registration is somewhere around the Chiba station. Guests wear a wrist band to enter the participating restaurants/izakayas which are open to participants only during the event hours (15:00~18:00 on a Sunday). Food served is buffet style, drinks are either free for fixed choices or available for a discounted price. I guess the free drinks may be soft drinks since it's a day time event but I'm not sure. This event says it is not only for singles looking for a date.

These events seem popular because participants don't have to appear too eager for finding a date. They easily can leave any situation and just say "well, I wanna try another restaurant". Everyone is made to feel more safe and relaxed, no pressure. Local businesses benefit too; they get a good opportunity of promote what they sell. Some areas involve local tourism as well; other attractions and events besides restaurants can be tied into the main event.

Such events may not be perfect but overall the idea works well. Some events have attracted thousands of participants. People can get together for food, drinks, fun, and good company, plus the local economy gets a boost. Not a bad idea, is it?!

About Omiyage, or Souvenirs (Part 1 of 2)

お土産 Omiyage is commonly translated to the word "souvenir", which we all know are things you buy during your travels and bring home with you. They can be for yourself or to give your friends and family. In Japan, if you happen to work at an office, it is standard practice to buy souvenir chocolates or other sweets and take them to the office as a gift for coworkers, to thank them for their help while you were away on a business trip or for vacation.

You might want something special if you visit Japan but, among Japanese, these are their favorites.

携帯ストラップ Keitai Strap (Cell Phone Strap)

Japanese love collecting tiny things; the art of Netsuke has been known for years. Instead of Netsuke attached to a wallet, the trend is now to attach straps and /or decorative items to a cell phone -- there is a large market in Japan for these straps. (Note: "strap" can mean an actual strap you slip your hand through, or a toy or trinket.) Japanese call cell phones "keitai denwa (portable phone)". The word "phone"is dropped. So in everyday life your Keitei is your cell phone. Keitai straps, according to my observation, should be one of the top items for a souvenir.

In the photo above, Kitty-chan (known as "Hello Kitty" in the US) is holding the Sky Tree. A strap that is designed so that Kitty is attached to some local item is "ご当地キティ Gotochi Kitty". Gotochi refers to a pertinent area of interest so it implies "local". The words of "Gotochi ______" mean a local item. For example, "Gotochi gourmet" means what the visitors want to eat during their trip. "Gotochi straps" are favorite souvenir items to collect or give as a gift for friends and family. Gotochi Kitty-chan straps are quite highly collected items and there are so many different kinds. You'll find at least a couple of them in shops inside the airports and stations or the gift shops in the tourist attractions. Of course Kitty is not the only one. There are so many different characters attached to the local representing items. Quite a few areas have their own characters. And like the image above "Hatsune Miku Kitty-chan", there are items not related to the local area but are special and usually depicting a popular character.

Actually these are an evolved version of old days' key chains. You'll also see a variety of old fashioned Gotochi key chains (Japanese call this a "kii horudaa (key holder)"). Keitai straps are a really favorite souvenir item all over in Japan. These little items are not expensive and usually small, so they are an ideal souvenir of Japan.

Sweets

Local original sweets are also a favorite Japanese souvenir. Often they are neatly packaged individually, which make them handy to give to coworkers as well as to eat by yourself or with your family and friends.

Here are the top Tokyo souvenir sweets you can buy inside Tokyo Station and at Narita and Haneda airports. Note: I'm not a sweet eater so most of them I've never eaten. Sorry, I can't give you a good review.

銘菓ひよこ Meika Hiyoko

Hiyoko means chicks, the "Meika (famous sweet) Hiyoko" or simply "Hiyoko" is a long time Tokyo souvenir sweet.
A similar item is raccoons, ぽんぽこたぬき Ponpoko Tanuki is more known by me. Both are sold in Narita and Haneda airports. They are sweet bean based, so they may not be too popular for Western tastes, but Japanese love these. You'll find quite a variety of similar sweets which are made with sweet beans and shaped like animals or flowers; they can be purchased all over Japan. This actually originated in Fukuoka in Kyushu, but is known as a Tokyo sweet since the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 when the company started selling them in Tokyo.

ショコラヴィヨン Chocolat Vion

Actually I don't know how to spell this item. These are chocolate covered cookies from Shiseido Parlor. Shiseido is a known cosmetic producer but they originally was a drugstore. In the drugstore there would be a soda fountain, named Shiseido Parlor. So the descendent of this business still remains. You can find a luxurious cafe in the headquarters building as well as in a few branches. The shop part of the business sell them. The original location is in Ginza.

舟和いも羊羹 Funawa Imo Yokan

This is a Japanese version of a sweet potato delicacy. It's made of sweet potato, a long time souvenir sweet of Asakusa. Yokan is a molded square shaped bar, usually made of sweet beans but this is made of sweet potatoes. This is not sold in Narita.

東京ばな奈 Tokyo Banana

It seems to be the best known Tokyo souvenir sweet; everyone knows about it but I wasn't familiar with this treat for a long time, so I think this may be more of a recent favorite. The official website celebrates their 20th anniversary. It's a butter cake with a banana flavored cream filling. I've never tried this so I have no idea what it tastes like. But I would guess that most Westerners will like it. The manufacturer's headquarters is in the Suginami Ward of Tokyo.

東京スマイルマカロン Tokyo Smile Macarons

Macarons are pretty popular sweets in Japan in recent years. I have no idea what these taste like. If you're curious see the linked wikipedia explanation to figure out what it is. I just liked the smilie guy with the colorful pieces -- they are sold in Haneda Airport. It seems they do not have a shop in Narita and I'm not sure the shop in Tokyo Station sells the ones with smiles and hearts. The main shop is in Ginza. They have many shops all over in Japan. Pictured are the Tokyo Smile Macarons.

Here's another heart shaped Macarons from サマンサタバサ Samantha Thavasa. This is a high fashion apparel brand that mainly sells bags and jewelry. They have a shop in Haneda and sell sweets and serve cafe items inside the shop. I believe it is a Japanese business but this website shows a lot of advertising photos with the Western models. It looks odd but it is pretty common to see the Western models in Japanese publications and TV commercials, although they have no relation to the foreigners nor any foreign language information availability.

All of the above items are from Tokyo. Please send us a request and we can furnish information on souvenirs from a particular locale in Japan that you're interested in.

Excellent Japanese Cooking Tutors on YouTube

A few years ago I developed an interest in cooking, and asked my older sister, a very good cook, to give me lessons. She agreed and has since taught me to make lots of delicious American and ethnic dishes. Now we often exchange recipes, and each summer we love to take trips together to the farmers market and share the fun of cooking foods that are fresh, organic and farm-to-table whenever possible. As much as I love Japanese food, though, I haven’t made any dishes at all (until recently). I always thought they would be too difficult, or I would make the food incorrectly and the taste would be awful.

Then last year I discovered several Japanese cooks who create English / Japanese videos and post them on YouTube. Two of them have become my favorite Japanese cooking tutors, and I am in good company. Each of them has thousands of YouTube subscribers. Their bilingual videos are watched by viewers all around the world. I would like to write about them today. I will call it a Valentine to my Japanese cooking heroes.

Also, just recently I discovered some very unfortunate news about one of them. Please read on – I’ll explain. My YouTube Japanese cooking tutors are both quirky, humorous and interesting. They don’t take themselves too seriously. I love how they use the video format to have fun reaching out to their audiences. The first has simply named her YT channel Cooking With Dog.

Great YouTube Japanese Cook #1: Cooking With Dog (CWD)

The CWD chef is a middle aged woman who lives in the suburbs of Tokyo. She always has her dog Francis, a gray fluffy poodle, sitting on the kitchen counter, watching her work. Francis also hosts each tutorial. He introduces the dish and narrates during the entire video…in English. (I’m thinking the voice over must be Chef’s husband…whoever it is, his English is heavily accented but still easy to understand.) Chef doesn’t seem to speak English. She usually makes a few comments in Japanese, always with a shy smile and pleasant demeanor. In the video description a full list of ingredients for the dish is provided, both in English and in Japanese. She creates tutorial videos about many types of dishes that are just a part of Japanese life and loved by most everyone, including:

Gyoza

Oyster Egg Drop Donburi

Tsukemen

Crepes

Ochazuke

Oden

Takoyaki

Omurice* (*A worldwide YT favorite! Since Jan. 2009, video viewed over 1.1 million times!)

Yakisoba

Sushi and California Rolls

Onigiri

Bento Box

Fried Shrimp

Custard Pudding (or Flan -- Superb!!!)

The tutorials are filmed and edited quite professionally. They are more like TV program segments than home made videos. The tutorials run between 4 and 10 minutes long. She has enabled the YT “Interactive Transcript” feature so if you click on the icon in the menu options, you can see all commentary in printed format. Copy and paste this to a document and you’ll have step by step instructions for future reference.

To find all of these video tutorials and many more click here.

It is not the end of the story about this chef. We learned this sad news on February 3^: “On January 15th, cookingwithdog's Chef sustained serious injuries while riding her bicycle in the suburbs of Tokyo. She was rushed to the ICU by helicopter. She is now in a stable condition.”

And this message is now posted on CWD’s channel:

“Thank you very much for your kind words and prayers from around the world. Chef was transferred from ICU to the general ward at the end of January, but her recovery will take many months and include a long rehabilitation period. I don't know the schedule at this point, but I will make sure that she will get well as soon as possible. Thank you again for being so thoughtful.”

Someone close to the CWD Chef (I guess her husband) just posted a new video tutorial two days ago on Feb 12. It was filmed before the accident and has been remastered. The video shows how to make Yakibuta Ramen (Roasted Pork Ramen). In just a couple of days the video views total so far over 63,000 with over 1,700 comments left in the Comments section. Most are to wish Chef a speedy recovery. (I wrote one too) Here is that video. Note: If you'd like to read the comments, click on the YouTube icon in the lower right corner. When the video appears in the YT channel screen, you can view the comments left by viewers immediately below.

Great YouTube Japanese Cook #2: runnyrunny999

Meet Taro, a 30-something Japanese guy with a boyish face and very good English speaking ability. He spent some time living in the USA and now lives in Japan with his family. He says he was inspired by CWD’s video tutorials and decided to make his own. He contacted her for some tips and has created tutorials that are similar in style and format to hers. They have become friends, he says; he feels grateful for her help. Here is one difference with his videos, though. Taro narrates his own videos in English, and provides Japanese subtitles. He also has a blog which is interesting because he writes posts in both English and Japanese. It’s great! In his blog, he describes his reasons for creating a YouTube channel:

“I started youtube June 2008. It's been fun trip because I can communicate with many different kinds of people from many different kinds of countries. Sometimes I can feel many people feel the same way as I do even though they are from different country : ) Now I make a cooking video mostly. 2008年6月にYoutubeを始めて以来、違う国の色々な人達との交流を楽しませてもらってます。国は違くても自分と同じ感じ方をする人々と出会う事 が時折あります。”

Taro has made many very good Japanese cooking videos, showing viewers how to make dishes like an Okosoma lunch, Tamagoyaki, Okonomiyaki, and Pork Miso Soup.

He also bakes! In his YT channel runnyrunny999, look for Taro's video tutorial on a two layer vanilla cake with strawberries on top. It's very cool! He is funny and light hearted in his approach to food and cooking. You will see his sense of humor come out in his videos, as in this one, for example:

Now for a touching story. When Taro heard about CWD Chef’s accident, he wanted to do something to reach out to her and help her, so he created a video asking for CWD’s subscriber-fans around the world to send video clips to him to cheer up and encourage CWD Chef. He edited the clips and made a video--a Video Get Well Card, kind of. Here it is:

This is the reply from someone speaking for CWD Chef, dated today, Feb. 14:

“Today, Chef watched this video and she was touched by the messages. Here is her short message to Runny-san. 「全部一気に見ました。世界中からcookingwithdog­のシェフさんと呼ばれ感激しています。ラニーさんの優しさが伝わ­っ てきました。ありがとう。」 "I've watched the whole video at once. I am impressed that I am referred to as Cooking with Dog's Chef from around the world. I've felt Runny-san's kindness. Thank you." I thank everyone who participated in this video, especially Runny-san who organized this project. I'm sorry it took so long to respond this video.”

The comments for this video post are also interesting. One of my favorites:

“It's just amazing to see how food can bring the world together.”

The tutorial videos described above are helpful for learning what Japanese foods and ingredients are called in English. I've also picked up some very useful kitchen techniques. I hope any readers who have an interest in Japanese cooking will check out the You Tube channels of these two impressive Japanese cooks. They take the fear factor out of Japanese cooking, and show you step by step how to make delicious, authentic Japanese dishes.

In conclusion, my thoughts are with CWD Chef and her family. I hope she feels better soon.

Coffee Shops in Japan -Trends and Franchises

Sipping coffee has been a Japanese favorite pastime for a half century. There are, in my view, a few different types of coffee places you'll run across in Japan.

Kissaten / 喫茶店 (Tea-Sipping Shop)

"Kissaten" is a classic old style coffee shop. It used to be that this type of establishment was about the only place to have a cup of coffee in Japan. At this shop they mainly serve coffee and soft drinks, and some classic lunch-like dishes such as Spaghetti Neapolitan, omuraisu (omelet over flavored rice), sandwiches and maybe a simple ice cream sundae.

Actually, the term "kissaten" is rather old and unfashionable now, though these coffee shops are still around. What you will likely see in a place like this is a guy sitting by himself reading the sports pages or a manga magazine, a couple of mid-aged neighbors, or a taxi driver taking a break. It is a low key, down to earth, nothing special atmosphere.

Being old and unfashionable, recently this type is revived similar to visiting the Showa (the era before current "Heisei") ruins. The photo is outside of Oka in Ueno, Tokyo. We used to go to these places as juveniles, acting like 20+ when we were 15 or so!! It was our place to hang out those days. To me these kissaten impose an image of those "acting 20+" are still there although they are way older than 20+ now, meaning you don't expect a contemporary "atmosphere" but it may still be interesting. Their coffee and foods may be good and the price range of a cup of coffee may be around 400~500 yen.

Cafe / カフェ

A "cafe" in Japan is just like a cafe in France, Italy or the States. Lately, "Cafe" likely means a fashionable coffee place people intentionally visit. This photo is of the Canal Cafe in Tokyo. There is a quite similar cafe here in Chicago by the river. They serve coffee and other soft drinks, sweets and lunch, brunch and dinner. It all depends on the individual business but many serve Western dishes.

A recent trend is for cafes to be established at a countryside location or in a remodeled traditional house. At a Countryside Cafe 田舎カフェ, which you will find (obviously) in a rural area, drinks and foods made with local products are served. Using a remodeled traditional house for a cafe (or other business) is common in the preserved historical areas but also in big cities.

Here is a photo of the Koguma Cafe こぐまカフェ near the brand new Sky Tree Tower. It is in a small area near the Sky Tree where was not burned out by the Tokyo Air Raid on 3/20/1945. I haven't been in the area for a long time so I don't know what it looks like now, but it seems they still have buildings standing from the pre-WWII. Most areas in central Tokyo were all burned down, common people's houses older than 1945 were not very common even 50 years ago. Anyway, this neighborhood near Sky Tree survived; some houses pre-1945 are still there today. This cafe used to be one of those old residences.

These cafes are the places you go for the atmosphere in addition to your cup of coffee, which means the price isn't so cheap. This Canal Cafe by the river serves a cup of coffee for 500 yen.

Franchise Coffee Shops
The franchise coffee shop is where you go for some coffee plain and simple. The reasonable ones are, like in the US, are fast food franchises. You may be lucky and find McDonald's selling you a coffee for 100 yen while a promotion, though the regular price of their M (medium) size is 200+ yen.

If you like Starbucks, here's good news: they are all over in Japan. The cup sizes are smaller and they have a smaller size we don't have in the US. Pricing and menu items are reasonably close to their counterparts in the US.

I've never been in Starbucks in Japan so I can't tell how they are like but I often use these franchise shops of either Dotor Coffee ドトールコーヒー (doe-tor-kohee. Coffee is pronuced "Ko-hee" in Japanese), the price range for a cup of regular coffee is 200~300 yen; or Pronto or Exelcior Caffe'. Exelcior Coffe' is a division of Dotor mainly serve Italian capcino, it seems a bit more expensive than Dotor and Pronto.

Another franchise you find everywhere is Ko:hi:kan 珈琲館 (kohee-kan, Coffee-kan). It was an early coffee shop franchise, actually around during the kissaten era. They were focused on taste or different beans of coffee even in that time. They changed the business style and now they are close to the lower price coffee shop franchises. However, the prices are a bit higher and remain in the Kissaten range.

One of these franchises can usually be found around major train stations and city areas. There are similar low-priced local coffee shops mostly inside or near train stations. A great thing about these franchise coffee shops is that they serve snacks (pastries and sandwiches, both Japanese style and Western style) and even breakfast meals.

Lately, another type, a so-called Nagoya style of coffee shop, is becoming popular. At this kind of coffee shop they serve coffee with some kind of snack or sweet for the coffee price, the service is called "Mo-ningu モーニング (morning)". So mainly it's coffee (or soft drink) with a snack or sweet offered during breakfast hours. So the trend of this type came to be. A franchise "Komeda Coffee コメダ珈琲" is the major one so far. But as far as I remember, all kissaten in Tokyo had the Morning Service. It is the same as the Nagoya style, I think so I don't know why they use the word Nagoya for the service.

Another reasonable off shoot of the coffee shop is the family restaurant, ファミレス (fami-resu) is its nickname in Japan. The style is similar to an American diner. Actually, Denny's was an early one and is still one of the dominating fami-resu franchise chains in Japan. What you expect in a fami-resu isn't much different from a family restaurant in the US. They give you the menu with big photos (but the dishes are Japanese style). The layout of the tables and chairs are quite similar to the ones in the US. However, they offer something unique and nice: a self-service "dorinku baa ドリンクバー (drink bar)". You can have any kind of soft drinks, coffee and tea, as much as you want.

Some fami-resu places set a time limit for orders to prevent customers hanging around too long. Some of my friends bring their work to those fami-resu; they drink coffee while working on their PC, finish the work, have a casual meeting with clients, and eat dinner then go home. I wouldn't recommend this as an everyday practice, but it's not a bad idea! The space is bigger or convenient than a hotel room.

The drink bar service is also common in internet-cafes or manga-cafes. Japanese net cafes are usually small rooms or bays with a PC. The individual rooms are very small. I'm not big even by Japanese standards but I can't sit comfortably in that small confined space for too long. Usually, these net-cafe places carry tons of manga books. People read mangas or use a PC as needed, and are charged by the hour. Some manga cafes or the manga areas in net cafes are more open space than the rooms with a PC. In these places, you can use a PC or read manga (in Japanese though) and have access to the drink bar. Some places have a good coffee machine. In fact their coffee aren't bad for the service and price.

The above video is a commercial guide of a net cafe near Himeji City, a typical layout for a net/manga cafe.

Bento World - (Part 2 of 2)

駅弁 Ekiben

This is how we used to buy Ekiben in train stations. The seller came to the windows of the train and the passengers bought these "to go" meals from their seats. We didn't do this in the commuter trains, but it was still a big part of the fun of train travel. Unfortunately the train windows can't be opened nowadays, so that tradition was replaced with a new one. Now merchants sell the bentos in a booth on the platform or in the train station concourse.

Above is a video showing a classic train ride the way it used to be, with passengers riding the old trains and vendors selling bentos from the platform. I remember how they called out and walked along side the train windows. We always worried if we could catch one of the vendors, pay our money and grab the ekiben before the train started moving! We would wait to arrive at a certain station to get a certain Ekiben. We prepared coins for a quick exchange, arrived at the station and called out "Bento-ya saaaaan" from the open window. It was fun!

The first train in Japan ran from Tokyo (today's Shinbashi Station) to Yokohama (now Sakuragicho Station) on September 12, the 5th year of Meiji (10/14/1872). There are a few different theories about who sold the first Ekiben but for most agree it was at Utsunomiya Station in Tochigi Prefecture in 1885. The meal was simple; only a couple of onigiri (rice balls) and some pickles.

おにぎり Onigiri

In Japanese restaurants in the US, bento likely means a bento box. But bento in Japanese sense means food (most likely lunch but doesn't have to) brought from home. The "lunch box" type of sense developed and started to sell like Ekiben or conbini bento and so on. So now, you'll probably hear this conversation in a Japanese office around lunch time:

"おひるどうする" Ohiru doo suru? (What are you doing for lunch?)
"あー、今日はお弁当。" Ah, kyo wa obento. (Oh, today I brought my lunch.)

The bento here can be a sandwich, salad, or whatever we brought from home. It could also be something bought from a store or conbini on the way to work. You can also go out to buy a boxed lunch. In that case you'd say "I'm going out to buy a bento for lunch"; in this case the bento means a boxed lunch from a store. But you wouldn't hear bento used if someone is buying a sandwich or any other meal for some reason.

Among the lunch meals, one of our favorite is onigiri, meaning rice balls. You'll see a variety of onigiri in Japanese conbini as well as boxed bento. It's not much favored among Americans whom I personally know because it is mainly rice and kind of plain. Japanese LOVE lots of rice in this plain version! :D

The video above shows how to make rice balls. The way she washes the rice and cools down the rice to make the balls, and cuts the ingredients by scissors, some Japanese may not agree with but you'll get the idea.

空弁 Sora-ben

Sora-ben is another Japanese abbreviated word which is made out of 空 sora (sky) and 弁 ben (a kanji character from 弁当 bento) means the "sky" version of Ekiben. So the Sora-ben are sold by vendors at airports.

弁当男子 Bento Danshi

There used to be a time when lots of Japanese men just didn't cook. Samurai men even were actually prohibited from going into the kitchen! Though strangely enough, most professional cooks were men. Thankfully, times have changed. Lately, cooking is pretty popular pastime among guys. You'll see quite a few cook books for men in Japan. Guys who prepare their own lunches are called "Bento Danshi". It used to be that on the typical guy's wish list was finding a wife who was a good cook. Now, the tables have turned. Meeting a guy who can cook is the definition of a dream guy, and it's high on the wish list of many Japanese girls~!

Please see these Bento Danshi images from Google search.

In fact, these "____ danshi (boys)" or "____ joshi (girls)" are a sort of a trend. It's how you'd call certain types of boys/girls. Actually, it's not as big a trend as it once was, but the girls of Japan are "nikushoku joshi (meat-eater girls)" and "soshoku danshi (grass-eater boys)" and refers to a change happening in Japan: girls are getting tougher and boys are getting more gentle. Well, it may not sound so new in the States but it really does in Japan.

Bento - An Introduction (Part 1 of 2)

Bento ( 弁当 bentō ) is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal that is still a common part of Japanese food culture. A traditional bento usually has compartments for foods like rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, and sometimes fruit. The bento is usually a box-shaped container. These containers come in all shapes, sizes, and qualities, from cheap disposable trays to expensive handcrafted lacquer ware. You can find bento, sometimes called "o-bento" or a "bento box", in many places around Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops (弁当屋 bentō-ya), train stations, and department stores. But in my view, some of the most creative bento I have seen are made by hand at home. Even today, it is still common for a Japanese parent or spouse to spend time and energy producing a carefully prepared homemade lunch box.

Bento can be very elaborately arranged in a style called kyaraben or "character bento". Kyaraben is typically decorated to look like popular Japanese cartoon (anime) characters, characters from comic books (manga), or video game characters. Another popular bento style is "oekakiben" or "picture bento", which is decorated to look like people, animals, buildings and monuments, or items such as flowers and plants. In Japan, contests are often held where bento artists compete for the most aesthetically pleasing bento creations.

A bento box can be created to delight a child and make their lunch experience that much better. It's as if they can taste the care and attention that went into creating this artisan lunch. I like to call it art you can eat. Some of the most adorable examples you'll find are in the Flickr category called Kawaii Bento (Cute Bento).

But bento are not just for kids. When I lived in Japan years ago, the salarymen I worked with would bring a bento to the office. Every day at twelve noon, all company members would go upstairs to the company cafeteria with a lunch bag or bento box. (It wasn't allowed to eat by yourself at your desk!) Some of the younger married men had stay at home wives who felt it was their duty to create a charming, healthy bento for their husband. We would sometimes smile or laugh when they opened their bento boxes, which often featured a compartment with white rice adorned with a romantic heart shape!

Types of Bento

Shōkadō bentō (松花堂弁当) is a traditional black lacquer bento box. This is a very traditional Japanese style of bento container. As a side note, this box was the inspiration for IBM's Thinkpad laptop design.

Chūka bentō (中華弁当) are filled with Chinese food. While Chinese do have cold plates, it is more for appetizers or midnight "snack". The food that is associated with Chūka bentō was invented in Japan.

Kamameshi bentō (釜飯弁当) are sold at train stations in Nagano prefecture. It is cooked and served in a clay pot. The pot is a souvenir item.

Hokaben (ホカ弁) is any kind of bento bought at a take-out bento shops. Freshly cooked hot (hokahoka) rice is usually served with freshly prepared side dishes. The name was popularized after a pioneering take-out bento franchise in the field, Hokka Hokka Tei.

Ekiben a bento sold at railway stations (eki) or onboard trains. There are many kinds of ekiben. Ekiben and other specialty bento will be covered in more detail in Part 2.

Bento, especially those originating from Japan, I've noticed, are arranged with healthy foods, and usually feature fruit for a dessert and never chips! They tend to be smaller portions too. In contrast, I have noticed American versions to be different somewhat, more adapted to US tastes -- fresh veggies might replace the pickled vegetables and dessert might include cookies or chocolate. Wherever they are from, one thing is common to all: the meals are fun, creative and appetizing.

To see lots of photos of bento lunches and read the blogs of bento fans, take a look at any of these links:

http://cookinggallery.blogspot.com/

http://bebento-kids.blogspot.com/

http://bentobliss.blogspot.com/

http://www.freewebs.com/bentobird

http://www.cutebento.com/

Navigate to: Flickr website.

Do a search for any of these groups to find many examples of bento box creations.

Kawaii Bento

Bento, Obento

Just Bento

Iron Bento

Bento Swap

Some these these food artists are from Japan, but many others are also joining in, from the United States, Canada, the UK, Italy and other origins. OBento fans can be found around the world!

Want to give creating o bento a try yourself? I like the Jbox online store. It’s fun to browse and check out authentic merchandisefrom Japan that is available for purchase. Their “Bento & Kitchen” category is a great place to start your search for bento boxes and supplies. Jbox writes this about the Kapibarasan Bento Box:

“Welcome to the Kapibarasan Cafe, where the coffee is always hot and the staff is always furry. This cute bento box features the adorable capybara characters that have become so popular in Japan recently. Create your own cute lunch-time bento with this adorable box that has a lid that clasps closed for extra security. The compartment holds 260ml (8.75oz). Completely machine washable and microwavable (with the cute character lid taken off). An official Japanese product that is made in Japan.”

Since you or someone you love will be eating from the container, I would recommend purchasing a bento box from Japan or another source that takes the manufacture of foodsafe merchandise as seriously as Japan does.

Some great items are also available on Etsy as well, such as bento bags, boxes, accessories and interesting bento- inspired items.

Mitsuwa Marketplace Check out Mitsuwa stores for bento supplies. This is a chain of supermarkets with locations in Chicago, Illinois, New Jersey and California.

By searching online you should be able to find all kinds of advice offered by people willing to teach you the art of bento. Even food companies can be helpful. Take a look at an interesting webpage by Nippon Ham Group, a Japan-based meat products company. They have an entire section devoted to instructing bento artists how to turn Nippon Ham Group ham and sausage products into lions, sharks, flowers and other decorations. The website is in Japanese, but the illustrations might give you some creative ideas.