Today’s kyushoku (school lunch): Squid soup, seaweed salad, and egg loaf.
Continuing with the theme of “sea creatures that we fry and eat whole,” yesterday we had fried shrimp for lunch—with eyes and legs and all. But we also got a sweet potato crepe to go with it! (in the plastic package in the middle)
It’s been a good while since I posted a picture of my school lunch, so here’s what I had today: a typical Japanese salad, some bite-size fried fish (the entire body), a bizarre miso-ramen concoction with corn and quail eggs, and, of course, rice.
When you have to eat the school lunch in Japan, it’s always a good idea to sit next to a teacher who will eat ANYTHING.
I have unloaded so much uneatable food on my desk-neighbor.

The bento and soup, as received

Split open the tofu wrap and... voila!

Now to open the bento...

Revealing the top layer

Awesome

Now for the bottom layer...

Double awesome

The leaf-wrapped sushi, unwrapped

A seriously gorgeous meal
These are some pictures I meant to upload a while back, but am just now getting to them. This was a fantastic bento that I had at work a week or so ago. One thing that I love about the culture here is that presentation is very important in Japan. This is something that, if you came to Japan, you would probably discover within a few hours of being here. At pretty much any place you go, from the most expensive stores around all the way down to the seven-elevens, they treat presentation of merchandise with great care. It’s incredible. And it’s probably one of the things I will miss most about Japan when I return to the US. Because even a ten-dollar bento lunch, with the right presentation, can make you feel like you’re eating like a king.
“I want a big cake. I like cakes.
Cakes are delicious. Who doesn’t want cake?
When I grow up, I want to eat cake.
Do you have a cake? I don’t have cake. Can I borrow your cake?
…
Where is your cake? It’s in my stomach.”
Japanese school lunch fun facts: