perfectly cubed pieces of Cheddar cheese. Into yet another baggie went slices of apple. Even the ;;; percent fruit juice came in a baggie-like pouch. ;e lunches were healthy for my kids, but not for Mother Earth.

While America has begun to move slowly away from its throwaway mentality, Japan

has been working on sustainability for a
long time. Japanese kids routinely carry to
school a plastic or metal obento box, a pair
of chopsticks, a thermos, and a cotton napkin.

;is means that their lunches create nearly zero waste—a good thing, as Japan has some of the strictest rules in the world regarding garbage and recycling. Even a;er six summers in Japan, I still sometimes have a problem knowing which of my in-laws’ ;ve recycling containers my now washed (!) piece of trash goes into. ;e Queen of Plastic Baggies was ready to convert.

Obento is an art form in Japan—Japanese mothers spend hours creating these culinary mini-masterpieces. ;ere are books, websites, even magazines devoted solely to obento-making. Kids, too, are serious about obento—heaven help you if your child brings to school a lunch that’s not spectacular. A friend who’s a middle-school teacher in Nagoya said that his students routinely take photos with their camera phones of classmates’ poorly made obento lunches, then rib them about it. Obento is serious business. If I was going to make obento in the US, I ;rst needed to learn the rules.

Obento boxes come in all shapes and sizes, such as the cedar Japanese Bento Box, Sanctus Mundo oval stainless-steel lunch box (see page ;; for both), and the Laptop Lunches Bento Box ( www.laptoplunches.com).

Tools (left to right): Some of the tools for making obento include cookie cutters, canapé cutters, rice presses, a melon baller, and an apple corer.

THE RIGHT TOOLS AND SUPPLIES In Japan, obento sets come in a wide array of colors, shapes, and designs. Until recently, though, Americans could buy obento sets only in Asian specialty stores, or online. Now that the US is becoming greener, manufacturers are ;nally answering the call. Today, you can

;nd many plastic, and a few metal, obento sets online, and in many mass-merchandise stores; some moms prefer to send their kids to school with lunch containers of tempered glass. Once you’ve found your boxes, add a melon baller, some canapé cutters, a cute rice press, and a healthy dose of imagination, and you’re ready to start playing with your food!

Next, gather your lunch-making supplies. Traditional obento boxes follow the ;:;:;:; Rule: ; parts rice, ; parts protein, ; parts vegetable, and ; part treat.

Rice Most American dieticians would be
apoplectic about the amount of carbohydrates in
the average Japanese diet: white rice,
white bread, white-;our noodles,
and potatoes. Yet the Japanese are
still, on average, one of the longest-
lived peoples on the planet. In my
house, along with rice, we use other
starches: whole-wheat pita and other
types of bread, crackers, and pastas.
Protein In Japan, kamaboko (;sh
cakes) come in a variety of colors,
forms, and shapes. But it doesn’t

matter how cute the cartoon character is or what fancy shape I cut it into—my kids won’t touch it. Nor are they happy about bringing pieces of actual ;sh to school. Or quail eggs.

Or the sweetened scrambled eggs the Japanese call tamagoyaki. Even in the US, my daughter struggles with animal-based proteins, so I frequently pack hummus, tofu, peanut butter, or other nuts in Katie’s lunch. One fun if somewhat fatty protein loved by Japanese kids is sausage in the shape of tako (octopus). (See sidebar, “Play with Your Food!,” on how to make sausage tako.) Inari, a little pillow-like sushi made by stu;ng vinegared rice into cases of fried and sweetened tofu, is also a favorite with many kids. Vegetables Neon-yellow pickled daikon (a large white radish), lacy white lotus root, vibrantly green edamame (boiled green soybeans)—all are

TOOLS: SARA FUJIMURA

BOXES: MELYSSA HOLIK

THE 4:3:2: 1 RULE
; parts rice
; parts protein
; parts vegetable
; part treat