O-bento - The Japanese luncbox

The Japanese o-bento is a compartmentalized boxed lunch usually containing one large part rice, one part vegetable and one part fish, meat or egg. While many cultures have the concept of the lunch box, the Japanese boxed lunch is somewhat more. In a way, the o-bento represents a Japanese approach to food: convenient, fresh and balanced in terms of nutrition, colour, texture and shape, and appropriate to the occasion-season, event or place. The aesthetics are sometimes valued as much as taste. The o-bento has been a part of Japanese culture for at least1,300 years.