By+Stephanie+Buck

Its not another middle class DIY project. The bento box is a staple of Japanese culinary history.2

The history of bento is far deeper than Pokémon cafés and Pinspiration.3 The Japanese lunch container evolved from utility to status symbol to kawaii over the past 15 centuries.4 In fact， during times of economic uncertainty owning a bento box was downright5 controversial.

In the 5th century， Japans farmers， hunters， and warriors packed their lunches in sacks or boxes and brought them to the fields.6 The design is derived from a farmers seed box， and usually features multiple compartments7 for different dishes， such as rice， vegetables， and fish.

From there， bento spread across countries—China， South Korea， the Philippines， and more. The word“bento” was actually derived from the Southern Song Dynasty slang8 term biàndāng， which means“convenient.” Each culture adopted its own dishes for the box， but the idea of a varied， balanced lunch remained constant.9 Bento became a favorite for cultural gatherings and social events， such as festivals， theater， and religious holidays. Boxes themselves could be made of lacquered10 wood or basket material. When the aluminum bento became popular during Japans Taishōperiod beginning in 1912，11 bento suddenly went from lunch to luxury.

After World War I， Japan grappled with12 economic inequality. While its newfound hegemony in Asia grew Japans industry， farmers and more traditional laborers contended with unstable crops.13 The wealth gap trickled down14 to Japans children. Wealthy parents sent their kids to school with shiny bento lunches， neatly packed with nutritious fare15； poor families could no longer afford the once-simple bento.

“My mother was older than the other kids mothers and she filled my lunch box with tiny， traditional porcelain16 dishes and cups. The other kids had modern lunch boxes with jelly sandwiches and wieners cut to look like bunnies，”17 writes Gaku Homma in The Folk Art of Japanese Country Cooking. His mother was relieved when the school lunch program began.

Initiated in the late 19th Century， the Ministry of Education recommended nutritious meals for all schoolchildren. The school lunch later became standard18 in 1954， during World War II reconstruction. Homma remembers those lunches typically contained a cup of milk， koppepan （a loaf of bread）， a pat of butter，19 rice， and a bowl of soup. Each kid brought a large cloth napkin to eat on. （The napkins also became status symbols， just as bento had， stitched on new sewing machines with tulip or butterfly designs.）20

Bentos popularity resurged21 in the 1980s along with TV dinners and other “convenience”dishes. By this time， the US and other Western nations had already been introduced to bentos charm. Japanese-American sugar plantation22 workers were the first to bring the bento lunch to the US.

In the 1990s， character bentos （kyaraben） were born and are still incredibly popular today， with fantastic， edible creations that are as delightful to Instagram as they are delicious to eat.23 Besides Pinterest， parenting magazines and back-to-school blogs the world over have featured24 bento recipes， ideas for shaping rice balls into baby pandas for kids lunches.

In fact， the bento box has merged with a core element of some Japanese art， which prizes not just a works outcome but the process itself， which should be intentional and precise， a craft honed over years of study.25 The philosophy manifests in everything from calligraphy to umami to plastic food.26

Its not uncommon for some mothers to spend up to 45 minutes per childs lunch， according to Christopher D. Salyers， author of Face Food： the Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes. Again the bento meal has become a marker for social status， with the most popular children unboxing27 the most elaborate bento.

In Japan， bento is served virtually everywhere， from Sailor Moon cafés to train-station food carts.28 And the original intention—a quick， portable， nutritious lunch—still holds strong.29

1. controversial： 引起爭論的；bento box： 便當，便當盒。

2. staple： 必需品，常備物；culinary： 烹飪的。

3. Pokémon café： 精靈寶可夢主題咖啡館，Pokémon是日本最有名的游戲、漫畫和動畫之一，多譯作《精靈寶可夢》、《口袋妖怪》、《寵物小精靈》、《神奇寶貝》等；Pinspiration： 一家DIY手工制作坊，其靈感源于創(chuàng)意展示、圖片分享平臺Pinterest。

4. 在過去的150年中，日本的食盒從實用價值上升為地位象征，直至如今的卡哇伊文化。kawaii： 日本可愛文化，中文常音譯為卡哇伊。

5. downright： 徹頭徹尾地，完全地。

6. warrior： 武士；sack：（裝食品等用的）厚紙袋；field： 工作的場所，對于warriors來說指戰(zhàn)場（= battlefield）。

7. compartment： 格，分隔間。

8. slang： 俚語。

9. 每種文化的食盒都有自己特定的菜式，但始終奉行一個理念，即食材豐富和營養(yǎng)均衡。constant： 始終如一的。

10. lacquered： 噴漆的。

11. aluminum： 鋁制的；Taishō period： 日本大正天皇時期，約為1912至1926年。

12. grapple with： 盡力解決。

13. hegemony： 霸權，領導權；contend with： 對付，與……斗爭；crop： 收成。

14. trickle down： 逐漸影響，緩慢影響。

15. fare： 飯菜，飲食。

16. porcelain： 瓷制的。

17. jelly sandwich： 果醬三明治；wiener： 維也納小香腸。

18. standard： 普遍的。

19. a loaf of： 一條，一塊；a pat of： 一小塊（黃油）。

20. stitch： 縫；sewing machine： 縫紉機。

21. resurge： 復興，再起。

22. plantation： 種植園。

23. kyaraben： 又作charaben，是character bento的縮寫，指把食物做成可愛的卡通人物、動植物等形狀的便當；edible： 可食用的。

24. feature： 以……為特色。

25. 實際上，便當融合了一些日本藝術的核心元素，它看重的不只是作品成果，而是制作過程本身，這需要精心構思和精細制作，體現(xiàn)的是十年磨一劍的技藝。prize： v. 珍視，重視；intentional： 有意的，有心的；hone： 磨煉，訓練。

26. manifest： 顯現(xiàn)，體現(xiàn)；calligraphy： 書法；umami： 鮮味，甘味；plastic： 可塑的，這里是指像便當這種手工精心制作的。

27. unbox： 拆盒，拆箱。

28. Sailor Moon café： 美少女戰(zhàn)士主題咖啡館；cart：（用于送食品和飲料的）手推車。

29. 提供一份快速、便攜和營養(yǎng)的午餐，這些作為便當?shù)某踔砸廊徊豢蓜訐u。portable：便攜的。