When it comes to food and food culture, Japan really does have a lot to offer. That is why it is not surprising that Tokyo is the city with the most Michelin-starred restaurants in the world. And the Japanese capital holds this first place unchallenged, far ahead of the French metropolis of Paris. Two more Japanese cities, Kyoto and Osaka, follow in third and fourth place in this ranking, before New York joins in.
But of course the Michelin rating is not really decisive for normal people like us, and in such restaurants I would probably look more like a bull in a china shop.
I'm actually most enthusiastic about traditional home cooking, and what my mother cooked still tastes best to me today. The flavors from my childhood never go away and usually bring back very pleasant memories.
But I also found a lot of food in Japan that I would love to eat every day. And it doesn't always have to be sushi, although I always enjoy the little rice bites, which often include a piece of raw fish. And there are many other things that I like here in the Land of the Rising Sun, starting with simple rice, which has a really good reputation here in the region where I am residing. Rice is the most important staple food in Japan and there is a lot you can do with it. It is the perfect foundation for building your dish around.
And the Japanese don't just like to eat at home or in one of the countless large and small restaurants that can be found all over the country. They also like to eat when they are out and about, although it is very important to pay attention to etiquette.
Walking and eating is not acceptable here in Japan and is considered a major breach of common manners. You might get away with eating an ice cream while walking, but even then most Japanese would normally sit down somewhere or at least stand still until they have finished.
Nevertheless, the Japanese eat when they travel, which is immediately noticeable to travelers to Japan when boarding a Shinkansen, the Japanese high-speed train. As soon as they sit down, many travelers start rummaging excitedly and busily in their bags and end up pulling out something to eat. Usually they have bought this from one of the many small convenience stores, which of course can also be found at every train station.
Sometimes it is just a small rice ball that is taken out. But more often it is something larger, a small box or container called a bento 弁当, which contains several small dishes. The bento is a huge and important thing in Japan, and probably worth an article of its own. But I should at least mention here that the history of the bento is supposed to go back until the 5th century.
Today we are looking at a representative of bento culture, the Ekiben 駅弁. The name Ekiben is made up of the two characters 駅 Eki for train station and 弁 Ben for bento. Now you immediately understand what Ekinben is, namely a food box that is mainly sold at train stations but sometimes also directly on trains.
The history of Ekiben goes back to the end of the 19th century. It is believed that in 1885, the first food boxes were sold at Utsunomiya station directly to train passengers who wanted to travel to Tokyo on the new railroad line. More and more local vendors appeared at the stations to provide travelers with homemade dishes such as rice balls or small boxes of rice with a few ingredients
Shortly afterwards, many stations began to offer their own ekiben made from local specialties, which became increasingly popular over time. The peak of ekiben was in the 1970s, when many ordinary Japanese finally had the opportunity to enjoy the convenience of train travel. However, the advent of air travel and ever faster trains put an end to this “golden age of the Ekiben”.
After most dining cars were abolished at the end of the last century, the popularity of ekiben increased again, and until these days many travelers quickly buy a small bento box before their journey to eat later on the train.
Even if most travellers just buy a normal bento box, there are still stores at many larger train stations that specialize in ekiben and sell food boxes in which special local specialities are arranged almost artistically.
In many places, ekiben have become some kind of special souvenirs for tourists, sold in unique containers and attractive packaging. The Japanese traditionally pay great attention to the way food is served, which really enhances the whole experience of eating and dining.
Of course, the ekiben are priced higher than the normal bento boxes, but in return you are treated to something that is not necessarily commonplace, which makes you feel the charm of the place you are leaving. Perhaps this is one of the main reasons why, in our fast-moving times, ekiben are still very popular today.
On one last train journey, we were also urged to finally give in to the call of the ekiben. The little ones had got it into their heads that they absolutely wanted to eat an ekiben on the train and they didn't even think about giving in.
But well, why not? In view of the special occasion of our trip, we bought two yukidarumabento 雪だるま弁当, two snowman food boxes, from the ekiben speciality store in our main station. The little ones had chosen them themselves, which may have had a lot to do with the way they were delivered. Who wouldn't want to eat straight out of a snowman?
The snowman was wrapped up again in a plastic bag. Anyone who has ever been to Japan knows that everything here is packaged several times, often far too often and too much. But well, that's another topic as well.
Here we now have our Yukidarumabento, our snowman, which at this point doesn't reveal what will be inside it. But we don't want to wait too long, we'd better open it up straight away.
Well, the contents are still hidden under another thin cover, but the Hashi, the chopsticks with which we are about to eat our Ekiben, are already ready to be taken out.
And voila, here we are! This is what it looked like in our Ekiben before we had set out our chopsticks. As expected, we were presented with an almost artistic arrangement of different dishes, and we were finally allowed to eat our way through them slowly and with relish.
Underneath everything there was a layer of rice, which is the basis of most bento boxes. On top of the rice we saw some local specialties, such as pickled vegetables, a shitake mushroom and also some egg flakes and fried minced meat. There was even a cherry and a small egg in the box, although I wasn't sure which bird had laid this egg.
So there was plenty for the curious gourmet to discover, although we had to realize that in terms of taste, our Ekiben was not necessarily made for the smallest target group. Some of the small dishes in our box were rather predestined for the palate of an adult, but as we were eating along, there was of course nothing left over in the end.
But the most important thing here was to have fun, and the little ones in particular enjoyed it all really much. Starting with the anticipation of their first ekiben, the joint selection in the ekiben store and the subsequent opening and devouring of the food box. And if the little ones are happy, then of course we grown-ups are happy too.
Well, I can now tick off my first ekiben and add another experience to my long list I have been writing during my life. As already mentioned, Japan has a lot to offer when it comes to food, and I have rarely been disappointed in this respect. But there is still a lot to discover here for me as well, and in due course I will of course give in to my curiosity again.
But until then, I will have plenty of food and dishes here in Japan that I would like to give a second chance. Well, admittedly, some food is always given another try, because over the years I've found a few things that I truly like and that I enjoy having on my dinner table more often. With this in mind, there's only one thing left to say:
~ ITADAKIMASU! いただきます！
