When I found out we would be making Bento boxes for our classmates to enjoy (hopefully), I was nervous. I didn't know how to make a Bento box, I didn't have a good grasp on what foods complemented each other, and most of all, I was afraid of making a very unattractive Bento.
Once I started making my Bento, I was still apprehensive, but I soon found myself enjoying the process immensely. Since I still didn't have a good grasp of the individual tastes of foods, I concentrated on the aesthetics of my Bento and hoped for the best. The entire time I was curious as to what my partner's Bento would turn out like- would I be able to eat all of it? Would I enjoy the foods? And would he enjoy the Bento I was putting together for him?
One thing I had on my mind the entire time was the fact that Bentos, according to both Andrea Arai and Anne Allison, are such an important part of the Japanese culture. The time that mothers spend on these lunches are incredible. The pictures we have seen look more like works of art to me than actual food items. Because of this I felt a lot of pressure to create a somewhat decent Bento, but my hopes were not high.
Once my partner Luke (a visitor to our class from Andrea's class) and I sat down, I found out that he was actually born in Japan, both of his parents native Japanese. While he didn't grow up in Japan, he was extremely familiar with the food and customs. I felt like I had won the lottery, especially when he started telling me more about each of the foods and I felt comfortable asking questions and learning more about the Japanese culture of food.
One thing we touched on, which I found extremely sensible and felt that it spoke to the importance of food in the Japanese culture, was the way rice balls are made in Japan. They are always made with the hands. The Japanese believe that the more love and effort you put into making the food, the better it will taste. This was something that I got out of our readings and discussion in class as well. Making food with your hands is the ultimate symbol of love- creating nourishment for your family can only be done with your heart, and therefore your hands. Luke shared with me his experience of working in a Japanese restaurant where one of his jobs was making rice balls by hand. He never could get them quite right until his boss told him that he had to put a part of himself into it, that he couldn't make the rice balls casually and without being connected to the food. That helped Luke immensely and he could instantly see the result of the difference in attitude when preparing the rice balls.
Before we began eating, Luke and I shared our strategies for preparing the Bento boxes for each other. While I focused on the aesthetics of the Bento, Luke's familiarity with the foods lent him the ability to pair foods according to taste and to separate them into two main groups- those that were already seasoned and flavored, and those that would need soy sauce. After giving me another run down of the foods he had chosen, he shared a bit of Japanese custom with me. As I was ready to dig in and get started discovering new tastes, Luke stopped me and told me that before every meal, Japanese say "itadakimas" which means "I will eat". It is a way of honoring the food and honoring the person who prepared the food.
We honored each other and started sharing our meal. The experience spoke to me of everything we have been talking about so far in terms of the social aspect of sharing a meal and sharing cultures. Luke and I learned a lot about each other and formed the beginnings of a friendship. Here I was, with a person I never met before, who I didn't know anything about, and by the end of our time together, we had made enough of a connection that I invited him to keep in contact and to share a meal with my husband and me. He is not from this area, so I am looking forward to preparing a home-cooked meal that he can enjoy as opposed to the school and fast food he is living off of currently.
This experience has been such an amazing one. I am so excited about what I have learned, and I am inspired to create more Bento boxes for myself and my husband. Uwajimaya, here I come!!!
