The cuteness of charaben bento boxes

Explaining charaben for CNN — Explaining *charaben* for CNN

My CNN op-ed on charaben, plus the video from Food Snaps Japan, is here.

“Character bento,” or charaben, are bento lunchboxes that include food made to resemble well-loved characters. However, mothers incorporated kawaii elements in the bento they made for their preschool aged children before kyaraben became popular. A cookbook from 1980 exhorted mothers to fill their child’s bento box with “cute dreams.” Animal forms and faces were common, such as a slice of apple cut into the shape of a rabbit, or a bear made from miniature hamburgers. The theory was that giving a child something recognizable and loved would encourage him or her to eat the entire meal, which is considered crucial.

In 1990, Sanrio, the company behind Hello Kitty opened a theme park with a cafe that served food in the form of their characters, and the cute food boom took off. Ten years later, mothers were incorporating their children's favorite characters into bento lunchboxes to create kyaraben, a process that requires much more effort and time than a mere apple rabbit. Moreover, this transformation occurred at a time when Japanese women were entering the workforce in record numbers.

Bento boxes serve a higher function than merely looking cute. They display the prowess of a mother and her dedication towards her child. As pictures of charaben are uploaded and shared, the performance of motherhood they represent increasingly takes place on a wider stage. Charaben, together with the wide variety of kawaii food popular Japan, demonstrate how much cuteness is valued as a way to communicate. It offers a feeling that is easy to share and makes you smile, even in a busy and stressful world. Sharing a cute image offers the gift of a warm feeling, like opening a lunchbox made by Mom.