Sunday 24 October 2010

on my way to Izu...


(Sukiyaki Don bento)

One of the exciting thing about in the Shinkansen (bullet train) in Japan, is definatelly Ekiben.
Eki (=station or railway) ben (=bento box/boxed meal) are specific type of box meal that only you can buy at train station or inside of Shinkansen in Japan.

(Matsutake mushrooms bento)

It comes with wooden disposal chopsticks and tooth pick, all box are very different. The shape is not only square, you can find Japanese traditional rice pot, plastic box, or wooden box, some of them are instant heating sheet in the box and you can receive hot bento box... they are really wide range of variety. All of the ekiben are made from local food and specialties.
So some peoples who loves ekiben very much, just get on the train and enjoy bento and view.
Big department in a big city in japan sometimes hold Ekiben festivals featuring ekiben from all over Japan. And offering as much as 100 different types of ekiben and selling tens of thousands during the period.

Almost three decades ago, the air travel was still very expensive and trains were slower. So Many tourist needed ekiben during their journey...

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