November 05, 2004

Japanese Bentos and Moms

Here are some more pictures from the Undo Kai (Sports Day) that I wanted to highlight here. A couple of days before the weekend when most schools have their Undo Kai's we saw a TV program about mom's making bentos. A bento is basically a box lunch. Just about every Undo Kai has a lunch break, and when the bentos come out (apparently) some mother's want their family's to be the best. Ideal bentos have many small items, an array of colors and a balance of foods. And those who really go all out (like the mom's on TV) prepare it all from scratch. Now, this wasn't quite true in our case. Our bento consisted of little wieners, instant potato cakes, some simple onigiri and (for the climax) some fried pork chunks. It was all good; don't get me wrong. I walked around took pictures of a few families eating. These aren't "average" bentos, and I couldn't tell you what "average" looked like either. I naturally moved toward the groups with larger spreads. But you can get an idea of how bentos work. You can see similar scenes when families have picnics at the park (although then you'll just as likely see a barbecue grill and beers all around). The "funny" thing is that the Undo Kai was cancelled twice the previous weekend due to bad weather, so the ambitious (and just plain conscientious) moms (and dads? no...) woke up early and prepared these meals three times.

By the way, bentos are great. Kind of salty, but healthy and good to eat. When we returned to the US this past summer, I was amazed at how badly Americans eat. Now I never saw a pizza I didn't like (well, until I came here, but that's another story). Anyway, I don't eat much pizza and fast food here, but my body's thanking me for it.

On a disappointing note, I decided to erase a comment from my last post. The readers of this blog include many who I don't know from all over the world, plus a number of my neighbors and friends here in Japan. As much as I appreciate honest, real insights and feedback, I have no qualms erasing comments that I judge to be derogatory, stereotypical, mean spirted, cowardly, etc. Besides, there's already a place for that sort of thing here (sorry, but it's true).

See my other website to save on international long distance calls

Posted by jw at November 5, 2004 09:34 PM
Comments

I like that link at the end. You know I actually wrote a letter to one of the guys who started Japan Today and he even admited to me that when and Mr. Devlin started JT there goal was to exposeall of the negative parts of Japanese culture. I guess a good example of how negativity can spread.

Posted by: peter at November 5, 2004 09:59 PM

I wouldn't say pizza is _that_ bad for you. After all, if you get the gourmet type, it's not greasy, and actually might be good for you.

Fast food type pizza, I would concede is bad for you. Fast food anything is pretty hard to stomach these days...

Posted by: pizza lover at November 6, 2004 01:52 AM

Oh, I really like your site BTW. Wonderful pictures.

Posted by: pizza lover at November 6, 2004 01:54 AM

Actually, I make my own pizza, and it's very good. :) When I eat food like that, my philosophy is to just enjoy it and not worry. We can get whole wheat flour here, so I usually use that for the crust (about half and half).

Posted by: Andy at November 6, 2004 07:56 AM

Silly Sally,

I've erased all your comments and the references to them, and I'd like to ask you to move on. Feel free to call this whatever you'd like. I think your comments are out of line with the community and purpose of this site and serving no good purpose here. I don't think it's censorship to moderate the comments posted here, and if you disagree that's fine. I'll address your closing question in the near future when I see the right opportunity. I would say more, but this exchange has gone nowhere so far and I don't expect that to change. Please don't respond here. If you need to say something, click and send me an email.

Posted by: Andy at November 8, 2004 05:43 PM