Bento box

Bentō is a prepackaged lunch, usually eaten during the lunch break. The bento box is equipped with internal dividers to separate different foods and is wrapped in a piece of paper, fabric or special bags together with chopsticks (箸 hashi). The bento is always packaged in such a way as to create an aesthetically pleasing package, studying the color combinations of the foods and the way of placing them, coordinating the bento, sticks, food, placemat and all the rest. Bentō boxes are of various materials and sizes: they can be disposable plastic, wood or metal, simple, printed, decorated, or even lacquered and hand-made works of art. Some have a thermos compartment, which contains rice kept warm or miso, usually used as a lunch drink in place of water or tea. The bento contains rice and side dishes (お か ず okazu), which are different specialties of fish, meat, vegetables, onigiri, tempura, cooked or marinated vegetables, tofu and other foods that vary according to the season.