A bento is a single-portion Japanese take-out meal that traditionally consists of rice, fish or meat and vegetables on the side. In Japan they are normally served in distinctive trays with divided sections for the different elements of the meal. "I think children in particular love to have small compartments of little bits of foods that are suited to their small appetites," says Ito. Not just children, as anyone who gets excited when their airline meal arrives will testify.
Ito, who was born in Japan though she currently lives in America and has spent her life between the two countries, started her blog in 2003 after a colleague told her about similar sites in Japan. As a cultural anthropologist, she thought that bentos had an interesting intellectual significance but also enjoyed making a record of the meals that she was proud of.She still makes them for her two children, who are now nine and six. "They prefer to eat the lunches I make, and I also prefer that they don't eat the food at school," she says.
"Food has always been very important to me, and I've always wanted my children to enjoy and appreciate good food," she says. "I am fairly health conscious about how my family eats, but I don't like being doctrinaire about it. Having wide tastes and getting pleasure from food is my priority and I think it is possible to focus on that while also eating healthily."
As part of a Japanese-American family, she also enjoys the cultural role of food. The children mainly eat Japanese food, she says. "It is a combination of wanting to pass on certain food rituals and traditions, which also happens to be a lot of what I like to cook, and therefore what they like to eat. Many of my fondest memories of childhood were centered around preparing [food] and eating and I wanted to pass these experiences on to my children."
American and Japanese dishes often form unexpected combinations in the bentos, such as chicken nuggets, spinach goma-ae (salad with sesame dressing) and fried satsumaimo (sweet potato), or onigiri (rice wrapped in seaweed), hamburger and broccoli (with dressing on the side). Peanut butter and banana sandwiches made a recent appearance alongside colourful boxes of quartered strawberries and chunky broccoli florets.
"Their favourite vegetable is probably artichoke," says Ito. "They love rice. I can't think of anything that they actively hate." She notes that when they lived for a time in Japan, they wouldn't eat hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza or the like. But they've "learnt to" enjoy American food now.
"Probably compared with most kids in the US they are considered 'good eaters'," Ito says. "By Japanese standards they are probably pretty average." Her children do, however, clamour for "ice cream and popcorn and that kind of thing, just like most kids."
In fact, the "tags" that Ito attaches to the bento pictures reveal that she plays the same bargaining games that every parent does, navigating the streams of changing taste on a daily basis. One notes that tuna is back on the "yes list", and another frets: "Too much brown again, sigh."
"I am very persistent in introducing and re-introducing them to foods," Ito says. "I don't assume that they won't like it even if they have not liked them before. They didn't like cucumbers when they were very small, but I would try preparing them in different ways and keep putting them in their lunches. For a long time the lunches came back with the cucumbers uneaten, but now cucumbers are among their favourite vegetables."
With its dinky little compartments and cute aesthetic charm, a bento makes an excellent secret weapon in the fight to win over her children's palates. "It lets me pack a variety of things in small amounts, which allows for experimentation," says Ito.
As a working mother, she doesn't have all day to craft perfect bentos - their tags reveal that they often include leftovers or ingredients culled from the freezer or supermarket. "It takes as long as I have," she says. "If I wake up late I can put together a lunch in 10 minutes. If I have time, I can take up to 45 minutes. I probably average about 20 minutes." If there's time, she'll get the children to help pack them too.
"Packing a bento for my kids is like making them a little present every day," she says. "Making bentos, and home-cooked meals in general, are one way for me to fulfil my maternal impulse even though I am not a full-time mom."
[Her pics here]
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