Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes

by Christopher D. Salyers

All across Japan, parents come up with unique ways to bring attention to their children's lunch boxes. And what better way to make children eat than to turn their midday meals into a cartoon, with Face Food. This book documents the very real phenomenon of crafting food into visually creative and appealing forms, such as Pikachu, Daraemon and Cinderella, bringing health, heart and imagination to the bento box. How-to guides and interviews with mothers and designers accompany photographs, all of which illuminate the many dynamic reasons behind this wholly Japanese pursuit.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Food, Japan, Cooking

80 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2008

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting, easy to read & digest (!) book about the Japanese art of decorative bento boxes - something which I didn't even know existed before I picked up this book! Usually, the bento boxes are made by parents - usually moms - for their kids when they are little, so that the kids can be entertained by the art works, and induced into eating foods they might not ordinarily wish to eat, such as asparagus, while also gaining some kudos from classmates, which would build up their ego. Meanwhile, the artistry impresses and puts a smile on everyone's face.. which is a plus all around.

These character bento boxes called charaben, usually depict familiar characters from pop culture, manga, but there was one artist's work in the book (Amorette Dye) that was a haunting landscape with flying geese.. more serious and "adult" than the usual Pokemon, Super Mario or Hello Kitty characters that are usually depicted in charaben. Another artist (Sayuri Kubo) depicted a geisha - not a pop character - like the landscape, also a rather grown-up choice. But the vast majority of the creations were of characters that would be beloved of and familiar to the target audience.. kids!

The text in the book is OK - but nothing special, although it does give some basic info about this remarkable Japanese art form. All in all, the book is a neat look at a cultural aspect of Japan that must be unique to that country - basically, creating representational edible art from food products on an ongoing basis. I think the closest we ever got to "food-based art" in my family was carving radishes creatively for hors d'oeuvre trays. I don't think any meal was ever "designed" for looks - other than perhaps twisted shortbread cookie shapes or dyed/decorated Easter Eggs. Meanwhile, these days despite thinking about food and imagining various meals, since I'm perpetually dieting, I cook less and less. So I was really touched and impressed by the stories and mini interviews with charaben parent-artists in the book, since it takes hours of planning and executing a design - and each artist says they execute these painstaking images in order to bring a smile to their child's face. That is really sacrifice and devotion to a child - to spend hours on a design which will be consumed later that day (although it seems at least some of the parents also do also keep a photo record of their charabens).

Some of these bento boxes are exquisite - considering the materials, and the constraints of the "medium" - the parents really show incredible patience and ingenuity. Each box is really in the end a labor of love.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was astonished at the time that these parents were taking to make boxed lunches for their kids--hours at a time! They claim to do it for the approval and love of their children. I realize the culture prizes gestures like this as a showing of love, but wouldn't a better rested parent who spends more time with the kids after school be better? Or maybe they pull off both. Either way, check out the photographs in this book, they are amazing. This should be considered its own art form.

[Sabrina Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to attempt my first Bento tomorrow :)

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a how-to bento book. More of a photographic art appreciation of the work of mothers, sisters, and one father making these labor intensive lunches for children. I actually felt sad reading about these people who get up at dreadfully early hours for a labor of love, only to have the child criticize small imperfections and gobble it up. Or out-grow the tradition and find it too childish, so mom just abandons the hobby. Sigh... The photos are wonderful, and reading about the support groups the mothers form to share ideas is lovely. But overall I'm left with the feeling that we all work too hard to make childhood perfect and end up under-appreciated for our efforts.

[Marisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

#BentoBoxGoals

[Carrie Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

How many of us were told not to play with our food as youngster? I guess that Japanese children aren't told that, judging by the book "Face Food." Their mothers painstakingly create cartoon characters, recreated masterpieces (like Van Gogh's "Starry Starry Night")and more--and serve it up for lunch! Sure, we've all seen mickey mouse pancakes and such, but these delectable Bento Boxes are stunningly detailed and works of art in of themselves.
I work with many otaku (anime and manga crazed teens, more precisely) so when I saw images from this book floating around on this site http://www.comicsalliance.com/2009/10..., I knew I had to 1. order the book and 2. do a YA program based on the concept of comic sushi (I'm an Young Adult Library Assistant).
So I did.

[alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Face Food is a picture book of some fabulous examples of "charaben" -- character-themed bento lunches. While brief interviews accompany some images, this book does not serve as a sociological analysis of why parents would choice or refrain from making such elaborate lunches or explore what effect this lavish preparation has on children's development. This book is also not a how-to book on making your own bento, though two short examples are provided at the end. However, the book is entertaining and inspiring and down-right cute!

[flajol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe people create these magnificent lunchboxes two or three times a week - and with such simple ingredients. Lovely to look at and inspiring. I'll never create anything so intricate (too lazy), but it's great to see what can be done with ingenuity and patience.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title says it all; ingenious!

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A look into the charaben, fancy Japanese bento.

Beautiful and definitely a creative outlet, but not for the average bento maker.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's just pictures of clever bento boxes, with a short intro and conclusion about why people make the fancy bento boxes and how to do so yourself.