Kyaraben: Japanese Character Lunch Boxes
In the culinary arts, they say that presentation is as important as preparation.
In Japan, it’s all about presentation when making character lunches. It is called “Kyaraben”, or “Charaben”, and goes beyond simply making the meal look appetizing.
Most Kyaraben are made by mothers, who want to make their children’s lunches more appealing by arranging the contents of the Bento (lunch box) into their favorite cartoon characters or super heroes.
Kyaraben are also designed for family picnics and outings, and may use a theme such as a train ride or automobile trip to determine the picture.
The history of bento in Japan goes back some 900 years although the first boxes made for bento were the wooden lacquered boxes made during the late 16th century.
Bento box lunches have been popular ever since, and there are thousands sold daily at train stations and aboard trains, but they aren’t nearly as artistic as Kyaraben.
There are several contests for Kyaraben artists and their entries are quite imaginative and most importantly, edible.
There is the Sanrio Kyaraben Contest and the Yokahama Kyaraben Contest, both won by the same person. Unfortunately for me, the winner’s blog is in Japanese and I can’t be sure I translated her name correctly…I come up with Miho Chindonya.
Of course, if I were talented enough to create one of these masterpieces, I’d probably smack the hand holding the hashi, (chopsticks) that was trying to steal a taste!
By Super Sied on 10-05-2008
Comment by TeZ
May 10th, 2008 at 9:45 am
this is so coool…
what an art that is =)
great stuff weirdAsia!
keep on rockin`
Comment by Singyee
May 10th, 2008 at 10:58 am
This isn’t a latest fad
this has been here for at least 10 years
Comment by darkwing duck
May 10th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
it too nice looking to eat.
Comment by Aikyrie
May 10th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Aw these are the cutest little bentos I’ve seen.
Comment by Allen
May 10th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
exactly, they’re wayy too behind in the news..
Comment by Sun Tzu
May 10th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Hah..
Comment by Sultan_Azteca
May 11th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Same thing said by Hannibal Lecter about his ex-girlfriend… before changing his mind, finally…
Comment by Harimau
May 12th, 2008 at 1:39 am
brings a tear to my eye );
Comment by Harimau
May 12th, 2008 at 1:42 am
y’know, that’s another thing. they look good. but do they *taste* good?
Comment by theweakbull
May 12th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
What a great thing to do. I’m gonna move to Japan now.
Comment by show-chan
May 13th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Yes and No.
Actually a mom with 4 kids help spread this fad by putting up her own blog in 2005 to which she uploaded photos of obentos she prepared almost everyday for her kids, just for fun. This lady is an excellent writer with a great sense of humour as well as a good artist. I think it helped increase the recognition among Japanese young moms and start the kyara-ben fad here. You can visit her site where she explains why and how she starded her own in English.
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/kasumin_yorosiku/folder/297121.html
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/kasumin_yorosiku/folder/835427.html
BTW, I think we can trace back the roots of the Kyara-ben to Makunouchi-Bento which was served during the intermissions of performances at Kabuki theaters in mid-Edo era.
Comment by Show-chan
May 13th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
“the winner’s blog is in Japanese and I can’t be sure I translated her name correctly…I come up with Miho Chindonya.”
You have a good sense of humor
Miho is probably mom’s name and Nao her son or daughter.
The last ‘chin’ is like chan which follows first name in casual conversations between friends or relatives. I guess -chan is commonly used while -chin has limited use.
Comment by Fried Toast
May 16th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
If you check her profile, a family name isn’t listed (that I saw). Like Show said, looks like it’s done by Miho mainly, w/ Nao in her username.
And in your first paragraph, you’ve got a little mis-translation:
“It is called “Kyaraben†(ã‚ャラクターå¼å½“)”
The kanji you have there is “kyarabentou.” If you want “kyaraben,” then you need to take off the ending 当 (tou).
Comment by ric
May 18th, 2008 at 10:50 am
ã‚ャラクターå¼å½“ is read as Kyaraktaa Bentou (Character Bento). It’s just that the Japanese always take the first syllables for actual usage. Just like Pasokon and other things.
Comment by nepspeed82
June 6th, 2008 at 5:30 am
I wonder how long it takes to prepare one? It doesn’t look that appetizing but if my mom or girlfriend would prepare me that, I’d still eat it considering the effort it took to make one.
Comment by Bentoist
August 21st, 2008 at 2:02 am
Oh wow, now that is food art. Great ideas on this site!