is a popular type of

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese dia ...

bento A is the Japanese iteration of a single-portion take-out or home-packed meal, often for lunch. Outside Japan, it is common in other East and Southeast Asian culinary styles, especially within Chinese, Korean, Singaporean cuisines and more, as ...

which consists of mostly rice along with fish, meat, pickles, eggs, vegetables, and an

umeboshi Umeboshi ( Japanese: 梅干し, pronounced , literally 'dried ume') are pickled ( brined) '' ume'' fruits common in Japan. The word ''umeboshi'' is often translated into English as 'salted Japanese plums', 'Japanese plums' or 'preserved plum ...

(a salt pickled plum). There are also other kinds of food such as a chestnut-rice, sweetfish sushi, and meat-and-rice-casserole forms. The word ''makuno-uchi bentō'' ("between-act bento"), dates back to the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

(1603 to 1867), when they were sold to theatre-goers during the intermissions () of Noh and

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought ...

theater performances. From the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

onward, makunouchi has become a common convention for bento boxes called ''

ekiben are a specific type of ''bento'' boxed meals, sold on trains and at train stations in Japan. They come with disposable chopsticks (when necessary) or spoons. ''Ekiben'' containers can be made from plastic, wood, or ceramic. Many train station ...

'' sold at train stations.

Convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ti ...

s also sell a bento under the makunouchi name. Though the selection and number of items in a makunouchi bento vary from store to store, it often contains more items and costs more than other bento.

References

Japanese cuisine Bento {{Japan-cuisine-stub

See also

References