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A Fabulous Handmade Bento-Themed Candle Set From Hawai'i

BENTO TAKE OUT SUSHI CANDLES SET (6-PIECE)

DETAILS:

From Sea To Shine!

Surprise your favorite sushi enthusiast with a delightful sushi candle gift set! This unique assortment features an array of handmade beeswax sushi candles in various colors and shapes, all crafted from 100% pure beeswax sheets. Each candle is lovingly rolled and shaped by hand in Hilo, Hawai'i. These charming beeswax candles are elegantly packaged in a genuine plastic bento takeout container, accompanied by decorative green sushi grass from Japan and a handy directions insert.

The Bento Take Out Sushi Candles Set Includes:

1 futomaki "thick roll" sushi, filled with a trio of tasty ingredients. 2" x 1".

1 Big Island style spam musubi, where layers of rice embrace a slice of spam. 2" x 2" x 1".

3 hosomaki "thin roll" sushi, featuring distinct fillings: one with a faint yellow center for takuwan (pickled radish), one with a red center for maguro (tuna), and one with an orange center for steamed carrot. 1.5" x 1" each.

1 large musubi or onigiri (rice ball), topped with ume (pickled plum) and wrapped with a delicate strip of nori seaweed around the edges. 3" x 3" x 1".

Brand: Double Brush
Material: 100% pure beeswax and cotton fiber wicks

Burn Time: futomaki - 2 hrs., Hawaiian musubi - 2 hrs., hosomaki - 1 hr. each, large musubi - 3 hrs.
Weight: 5.4 ounces

Origin: Handcrafted in Hilo, Hawai'i

This sushi candle set comes from the originators of hand-rolled beeswax sushi candles, Double Brush, ensuring top-notch craftsmanship. This particular set is an early example of Double Brush's wonderful handcrafted candle products.

CONDITION:

In good, pre-owned condition. All but one candle is in new condition. The square musubi candle is unused as well but it has a chip and crack in the outer "nori" layer. The plastic bento take out container has some damage; the lid has disconnected and there's a crack in the container. Please see photos.

To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully repackaged before shipping out.

THANK YOU FOR LOOKING. QUESTIONS? JUST ASK.

"Sushi (すし, 寿司, 鮨, 鮓, pronounced [sɯɕiꜜ] or [sɯꜜɕi] ⓘ) is a traditional Japanese dish made with vinegared rice (鮨飯, sushi-meshi), typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of ingredients (ねた, neta), such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in numerous styles and presentation, the defining component is the vinegared rice, also known as shari (しゃり), or sumeshi (酢飯).[1]

The modern form of sushi is believed to have been created by Hanaya Yohei, who invented nigiri-zushi, the most commonly recognized type today, in which seafood is placed on hand-pressed vinegared rice. This innovation occurred around 1824 in the Edo period (1603–1867). It was the fast food of the chōnin class in the Edo period.[2][3][4]

Sushi is traditionally made with medium-grain white rice, although it can also be prepared with brown rice or short-grain rice. It is commonly prepared with seafood, such as squid, eel, yellowtail, salmon, tuna or imitation crab meat. Certain types of sushi are vegetarian. It is often served with pickled ginger (gari), wasabi, and soy sauce. Daikon radish or pickled daikon (takuan) are popular garnishes for the dish.

Sushi is sometimes confused with sashimi, a dish that consists of thinly sliced raw fish or occasionally meat, without sushi rice....

Types
Sushi platter to go

The common ingredient in all types of sushi is vinegared sushi rice. Fillings, toppings, condiments, and preparation vary widely.[28]

Due to rendaku consonant mutation, sushi is pronounced with zu instead of su when a prefix is attached, as in nigirizushi....

Makizushi

Makizushi (巻き寿司, "rolled sushi"), norimaki (海苔巻き, "nori roll", used generically for other dishes as well) or makimono (巻物, "variety of rolls") is a cylindrical piece formed with the help of a mat known as a makisu (巻き簾). Makizushi is generally wrapped in nori (seaweed) but is occasionally wrapped in a thin omelette, soy paper, cucumber, or shiso (perilla) leaves. Makizushi is often cut into six or eight pieces, constituting a single roll order. Short-grain white rice is usually used, although short-grain brown rice, like olive oil on nori, is now becoming more widespread among the health-conscious. Rarely, sweet rice is mixed in makizushi rice.

Nowadays, the rice in makizushi can be many kinds of black rice, boiled rice, and cereals. Besides the common ingredients listed above, some varieties may include cheese, spicy cooked squid, yakiniku, kamaboko, lunch meat, sausage, bacon or spicy tuna. The nori may be brushed with sesame oil or sprinkled with sesame seeds. In a variation, sliced pieces of makizushi may be lightly fried with egg coating. ...

Futomaki (太巻, "thick, large, or fat rolls") is a large, cylindrical style of sushi, usually with nori on the outside.[36] A typical futomaki is five to six centimeters (2 to 2+1⁄2 in) in diameter.[37] They are often made with two, three, or more fillings that are chosen for their complementary tastes and colors. Futomaki are often vegetarian, and may use strips of cucumber, kampyō gourd, takenoko (bamboo shoots), or lotus root. Strips of tamagoyaki omelette, tiny fish roe, chopped tuna, and oboro whitefish flakes are typical non-vegetarian fillings.[36] Traditionally, the vinegared rice is lightly seasoned with salt and sugar. Popular proteins are fish cakes, imitation crab meat, egg, tuna, or shrimp. Vegetables usually include cucumber, lettuce, and takuan (沢庵, pickled radish).
Tamago makizushi (玉子巻き寿司) is makizushi is wrapped in a thin omelet.
Tempura makizushi (天ぷら巻き寿司) or agezushi (揚げ寿司ロール) is a fried version of the dish.
During the evening of the festival of Setsubun (節分), it is traditional in the Kansai region to eat a particular kind of futomaki in its uncut cylindrical form, called ehōmaki (惠方巻, "lucky direction roll").[38] By 2000 the custom had spread to all of Japan.[39] Ehōmaki is a roll composed of seven ingredients considered to be lucky. The typical ingredients include kanpyō, egg, eel, and shiitake. Ehōmaki often include other ingredients too. People usually eat the ehōmaki while facing the direction considered to be auspicious that year.

Hosomaki (細巻, "thin rolls") is a type of small cylindrical sushi with nori on the outside. A typical hosomaki has a diameter of about 2.5 centimeters (1 in).[37] They generally contain only one filling, often tuna, cucumber, kanpyō, nattō, umeboshi paste, and squid with shiso (Japanese herb).

    Kappamaki (河童巻) is a kind of hosomaki filled with cucumber. It is named after the Japanese legendary water imp, fond of cucumbers, called the kappa. Traditionally, kappamaki is consumed to clear the palate between eating raw fish and other kinds of food so that the flavors of the fish are distinct from the tastes of other foods.
    Tekkamaki (鉄火巻) is a kind of hosomaki filled with raw tuna. Although it is believed that the word tekka, meaning "red hot iron", alludes to the color of the tuna flesh or salmon flesh, it actually originated as a quick snack to eat in gambling dens called tekkaba (鉄火場), much like the origins of the sandwich.[41][42]
    Negitoromaki (ねぎとろ巻) is a kind of hosomaki filled with negitoro, also known as scallion (negi) and chopped tuna (toro). Fatty tuna is often used in this style.
    Tsunamayomaki (ツナマヨ巻) is a kind of hosomaki filled with canned tuna tossed with mayonnaise....

American-style makizushi

Multiple-filling rolls inspired by futomaki are a more popular type of sushi within the United States and come in variations that take their names from their places of origin. Other rolls may include a variety of ingredients, including chopped scallops, spicy tuna, beef or chicken teriyaki roll, okra, and assorted vegetables such as cucumber and avocado, and the tempura roll, where shrimp tempura is inside the roll or the entire roll is battered and fried tempura-style. In the Southern United States, many sushi restaurants prepare rolls using crawfish. Sometimes, rolls are made with brown rice or black rice, known as forbidden rice, which appear in Japanese cuisine as well.

Since rolls are often made to order, it is not unusual for the customer to specify the exact ingredients desired (e.g., salmon roll, cucumber roll, avocado roll, tuna roll, shrimp or tuna tempura roll, etc.)....

Nori
Main article: Nori

The dark green seaweed wrappers used in makimono are called nori (海苔). Nori is a type of red algae, typically in the family Bangiaceae, traditionally cultivated in the harbors of Japan. Originally, algae was scraped from dock pilings, rolled out into thin, edible sheets, and dried in the sun, similar to making rice paper.[109] Today, the commercial product is farmed, processed, toasted, packaged, and sold in sheets.

The size of a nori sheet influences the size of makimono. A full-size sheet produces futomaki, and a half produces hosomaki and temaki. To produce gunkan and some other makimono, an appropriately-sized piece of nori is cut from a whole sheet.

Nori by itself is an edible snack and is available with salt or flavored with teriyaki sauce. The flavored variety, however, tends to be of lesser quality and is not suitable for sushi.

When making fukusazushi, a paper-thin omelet may replace a sheet of nori as the wrapping. The omelet is traditionally made on a rectangular omelet pan, known as a makiyakinabe, and used to form the pouch for the rice and fillings....

Etiquette
See also: Customs and etiquette in Japanese dining

Unlike sashimi, which is almost always eaten with chopsticks, nigirizushi is traditionally eaten with the fingers, even in formal settings.[139] Although it is commonly served on a small platter with a side dish for dipping, sushi can also be served in a bento, a box with small compartments that hold the various dishes of the meal.

Soy sauce is the usual condiment, and sushi is normally served with a small sauce dish or a compartment in the bento. Traditional etiquette suggests that the sushi is turned over so that only the topping is dipped to flavor it; the rice—which has already been seasoned with rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt, mirin, and kombu—would otherwise absorb too much soy sauce and would fall apart.[140]

Traditionally, the sushi chef will add an appropriate amount of wasabi to the sushi while preparing it, and the diner should not add more.[140] However, today, wasabi is more a matter of personal taste, and even restaurants in Japan may serve wasabi on the side for customers to use at their discretion, even when there is wasabi already in the dish." (wikipedia)

"Onigiri (お握り or 御握り), also known as omusubi (お結び) or nigirimeshi (握り飯), is a Japanese rice ball made from white rice. It is usually formed into triangular or cylindrical shapes, and wrapped in nori (seaweed).[a] Onigiri traditionally have sour or salty fillings such as umeboshi (pickled Chinese plum), salted salmon, katsuobushi (smoked and fermented bonito), kombu, tarako or mentaiko (pollock roe), or takanazuke (pickled Japanese giant red mustard greens). Because it is easily portable and eaten by hand, onigiri has been used as portable food or bento from ancient times to the present day. Originally, it was used as a way to use and store left-over rice, but it later became a regular meal. Many Japanese convenience stores and supermarkets stock onigiri with various fillings and flavors. It has become so mainstream that it is even served in izakayas and sit-down restaurants. There are even specialized shops which only sell onigiri to take out. Due to the popularity of this trend in Japan, onigiri has become a popular staple in Japanese restaurants worldwide.

Onigiri is not a form of sushi and should not be confused with the type of sushi called nigirizushi or simply nigiri. Onigiri is made with plain rice (sometimes lightly salted), while sushi is made of rice with vinegar, sugar and salt.[1] Onigiri makes rice portable and easy to eat as well as preserving it, while sushi originated as a way of preserving fish. ...

Modern
Onigiri sold at a Japanese 7-Eleven

In the 1980s, a machine to make triangular onigiri was invented. Rather than rolling the filling inside, the flavoring was put into a hole in the onigiri and the hole was hidden by nori. Since the onigiri made by this machine came with nori already applied to the rice ball, over time the nori became moist and sticky, clinging to the rice.[citation needed]

A packaging improvement allowed the nori to be stored separately from the rice. Before eating, the diner could open the packet of nori and wrap the onigiri. The use of a hole for filling the onigiri made new flavors of onigiri easier to produce as this cooking process did not require changes from ingredient to ingredient. Modern mechanically wrapped onigiri are specially folded so that the plastic wrapping is between the nori and rice to act as a moisture barrier. When the packaging is pulled open at both ends, the nori and rice come into contact and are eaten together. This packaging is commonly found for both triangular onigiri and rolls (細巻き)....

Umeboshi, okaka, or tsukudani have long been frequently used as fillings for onigiri. Generally, onigiri made with pre-seasoned rice is not filled with ingredients. Plain (salt only) onigiri is called shio-musubi.

Typical fillings are listed below:

    Dressed dishes: tuna with mayonnaise (シーチキン), shrimp with mayonnaise, negitoro (ネギトロ), etc.
    Dried fish: roasted and crumbled mackerel (鯖), Japanese horse mackerel (鰺), etc.
    Dried food: katsuobushi, etc.
    Fish roe: mentaiko (明太子), tarako (たらこ), tobiko (とびこ), etc.
    Shiokara: squid, shuto, etc.
    Meats: kakuni, dongpo pork, char siu
    Tsukudani: nori, Hypoptychus dybowskii (小女子), Venerupis philippinarum (浅蜊), etc.
    Pickled fruits and vegetables: umeboshi, takana, nozawana, etc.
    Tenkasu: deep fried bits of batter" (wikipedia)

"Spam musubi is a snack and lunch food composed of a slice of grilled Spam sandwiched either in between or on top of a block of rice, wrapped together with nori in the tradition of Japanese onigiri.
Spam musubi are commonly sold in convenience stores packaged in plastic boxes.

Inexpensive and portable, Spam musubi are commonly found near cash registers in convenience stores or mom-and-pop shops all over Hawaii and in Hawaiian barbecue restaurants in the mainland United States.[1] Musubi can be easily made with the right ingredients, and typically only uses spam, rice, some salt, nori and shoyu (soy sauce). In Hawaii, musubi with spam from a can or homemade luncheon meat is eaten as a snack or served in formal restaurants....

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin said of Spam musubi in 2002 that "There is no definitive history for this aberration." Still, the newspaper relayed that a 2001 cookbook stated that the potential creator is Mitsuko Kaneshiro, who began selling them out of City Pharmacy on Pensacola Street in Honolulu and by the early 1980s was selling 500 handmade Spam musubi a day out of her own shop, Michan's Musubi.[6] The other person said to be the creator of Spam musubi is Barbara Funamura of Kauai. Funamura sold Spam musubi out of the Joni-Hana restaurant in the Kukui Grove Center. The Garden Island in 1983 described it as, "Spam and rice, two local favorites, are combined in an enormous musubi (rice ball) wrapped in nori (sheets of dried seaweed)." Eventually Funamura's musubi was made using a box mold, taking on its familiar form.[7]

In 1999, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue introduced the Hawaii regional snack as a menu item in its first mainland U.S. restaurant in Puente Hills, California.[8] As the Hawaii-based chain grew across several American states, so did the awareness and popularity of the snack, eventually becoming a mainstay on the menu, and making L&L the first restaurant chain to make the snack available nationally.[9]

On August 8, 2021, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue established "National Spam Musubi Day" to celebrate the iconic snack from Hawaii. The holiday was officially recognized by Hawaii Governor David Y. Ige. with a public proclamation.[10]

Spam musubi is the serving suggestion on tins of Teriyaki flavor Spam.[11] Spam Musubi, generally together with egg and sometimes called Potama (for Pork+Tamago/Egg), is a staple of Okinawan cuisine.[12] The nori is generally larger and wraps the entire sandwich.
Preparation

Typical preparation begins with grilling or frying slices of Spam, sometimes with a light teriyaki flavor. It uses a sauce in which soy sauce and granulated sugar are typically the basic ingredients. Using a mold the same size as a slice of Spam, a layer of cooked rice is pressed down over a strip of nori, with a slice of Spam on top of that, and then, optionally, another layer of rice. The mold is removed and the nori is wrapped over the top and around the musubi.[13] Guam's Pacific Daily News describes the local version: "a slice of Spam is bathed in teriyaki sauce before topping a mound of rice with a dash of furikake and wrapped in a strip of nori."[14] Another Guam recipe calls for Sriracha mayonnaise." (wikipedia)

"A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. Candles have been used for over two millennia around the world, and were a significant form of indoor lighting until the invention of other types of light sources. Although electric light has largely made candle use nonessential for illumination, candles are still commonly used for functional, symbolic and aesthetic purposes and in specific cultural and religious settings.

Early candles may be made of beeswax, but these candles were expensive and their use was limited to the elite and the churches. Tallow was a cheaper but a less aesthetically pleasing alternative. A variety of different materials have been developed in the modern era for making candles, including paraffin wax, which together with efficient production techniques, made candles affordable for the masses. Various devices can be used to hold candles, such as candlesticks, or candelabras, chandeliers, lanterns and sconces. A person who makes candles is traditionally known as a chandler.[1]

The combustion of the candle proceeds in self-sustaining manner. As the wick of candle is lit, the heat melts and ignites a small amount of solid fuel (the wax), which vaporizes and combines with oxygen in the air to form a flame. The flame then melts the top of the mass of solid fuel, which moves upward through the wick via capillary action to be continually burnt, thereby maintaining a constant flame. The candle shortens as the solid fuel is consumed, so does the wick. Wicks of pre-19th century candles required regular trimming with scissors or "snuffers" to promote steady burning and prevent smoking. In modern candles, the wick is constructed so that it curves over as it burns, and the end of the wick gets trimmed by itself through incineration by fire.[2]
Etymology

The word candle comes from Middle English candel, from Old English and from Anglo-Norman candele, both from Latin candēla, from candēre 'to shine'....

Modern era

A number of improvements were made to candle in the 19th century. In older candles, the wick of a burning candle was not in direct contact with air, so it charred instead of being burnt. The charred wick inhibited further burning and produced black smoke, so the wick needed to be constantly trimmed or "snuffed".[23] In 1825, a French man M. Cambacérès introduced the plaited wick soaked with mineral salts, which when burnt, curled towards the outer edge of the flame and become incinerated by it, thereby trimming itself.[6] These are referred to as "self-trimming" or "self-consuming" wicks.[24] In 1823, Michel Eugène Chevreul and Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac separate out stearin in animal fats, and obtained a patent in 1825 to produce candles that are harder and can burn brighter.[17][23]

The manufacture of candles became an industrialized mass market in the mid 19th century. In 1834, Joseph Morgan,[25] a pewterer from Manchester, England, patented a machine that revolutionised candle making. It allowed for continuous production of molded candles by using a cylinder with a moveable piston to eject candles as they solidified. This more efficient mechanized production produced about 1,500 candles per hour. This allowed candles to be an affordable commodity for the masses.[26]

In the mid-1850s, James Young succeeded in distilling paraffin wax from coal and oil shales at Bathgate in West Lothian and developed a commercially viable method of production.[27] Paraffin could be used to make inexpensive candles of high quality. It was a bluish-white wax, which burned cleanly and left no unpleasant odor, unlike tallow candles. By the end of the 19th century, candles were made from paraffin wax and stearic acid.

By the late 19th century, Price's Candles, based in London, was the largest candle manufacturer in the world.[28] Founded by William Wilson in 1830,[29] the company pioneered the implementation of the technique of steam distillation, and was thus able to manufacture candles from a wide range of raw materials, including skin fat, bone fat, fish oil and industrial greases.

Despite advances in candle making, the candle industry declined rapidly upon the introduction of superior methods of lighting, including kerosene and lamps and the 1879 invention of the incandescent light bulb. From this point on, candles came to be marketed as more of a decorative item....

Use

Before the invention of electric lighting, candles and oil lamps were commonly used for illumination. In areas without electricity, they are still used routinely. Until the 20th century, candles were more common in northern Europe. In southern Europe and the Mediterranean, oil lamps predominated.

n the developed world today, candles are used mainly for their aesthetic value and scent, particularly to set a soft, warm, or romantic ambiance, for emergency lighting during electrical power failures.[31] Candles, however, are still commonly used in religious and ceremonial contexts. Examples include votive candles, Paschal candles and yahrzeit candles. In the days leading to Christmas, some people burn a candle a set amount to represent each day, as marked on the candle. The type of candle used in this way is called the Advent candle,[32] although this term is also used to refer to a candle that are used in an Advent wreath.

Symbolic use of candles has extended from the religious to the secular, for example, a candlelight vigil may be held in remembrance for a person, for a cause or an event, or as a form of political action or protest.[33] In a social setting, candles are commonly used on birthday cakes" (wikipedia)

"Beeswax (also known as cera alba) is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus Apis. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers collect and use it to form cells for honey storage and larval and pupal protection within the beehive. ...

Uses

Candle-making has long involved the use of beeswax, which burns readily and cleanly, and this material was traditionally prescribed for the making of the Paschal candle or "Easter candle". Beeswax candles are purported to be superior to other wax candles, because they burn brighter and longer, do not bend, and burn cleaner.[15] It is further recommended for the making of other candles used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church.[16] Beeswax is also the candle constituent of choice in the Eastern Orthodox Church.[17][18]

Refined beeswax plays a prominent role in art materials both as a binder in encaustic paint and as a stabilizer in oil paint to add body." (wikipedia)

"A bento (弁当, bentō)[1] is a Japanese-style single-portion take-out or home-packed meal, often for lunch, typically including rice and packaged in a box with a lid (often a segmented box with different parts of the meal placed in different sections). Outside Japan, similar meals are common in other East and Southeast Asian culinary styles, especially within Chinese, Korean, Singaporean, Taiwanese cuisines and more, as rice is a common staple food in the region. The term bento is derived from the Chinese term biandang (便當, pinyin: biàndāng), which means "convenient" or "convenience".[citation needed]

A traditional bento typically includes rice or noodles with fish or some other meat, often with pickled and cooked vegetables in a box.[2] Containers range from mass-produced disposable containers to hand-crafted lacquerware. Dividers are often used to separate ingredients or dishes, especially those with strong flavors, to avoid them affecting the taste of the rest of the meal. A typical divider is green plastic 'sushi grass', known as baran in Japan, which also works to slow the growth of bacteria.[3]

Bento are readily available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops (弁当屋, bentō-ya), railway stations, and department stores. However, Japanese homemakers often spend time and energy on carefully prepared bento for their spouses, children, or themselves. Outside Japan, the term bento box may be used (e.g., on English menus for Japanese restaurants). Bento can be elaborately arranged in styles called kyaraben ("character bento", typically decorated to look like popular characters from anime, manga, or video games) or oekakiben ("picture bento", decorated to look like people, animals, buildings and monuments, or items such as flowers and plants). Contests are often held where bento arrangers compete for the most aesthetically attractive arrangements.

There are comparable forms of boxed lunches in other Asian countries such as in China, Taiwan and other Sinophone communities, known as héfàn (盒饭) or biàndāng in Mandarin, piān-tong in Taiwanese Hokkien, and in Korea as dosirak. Other Asian countries would either just use bento as a loanword or hokben, which means "steaming bento". There has also been discussion regarding what bento means for Japanese society and what it represents. Analyses range from a simple semiotic approach to one that outlines the deeper ideological meanings behind bento....

EtymologyIn Japan, "bento" is written in kanji as 弁当 (Kyūjitai: 辨當[4]). The word itself originates from the Chinese Song dynasty slang term 便当 (便當, pinyin: biàndāng), meaning "convenient" or "convenience" (this sense is still used in Wu dialects such as Shanghainese[5]). When the word was imported to Japan, it was written with the ateji 便道 and 弁道.[6][7] In modern times, the term is commonly used in East and Southeast Asia. In mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, bento remains written as the original name 便當 (pinyin: biàndāng). In other Sinophone communities, both biandang and bento are often interchangeably used....

Bento regained popularity in the 1980s with the help of the microwave oven and the proliferation of convenience stores. In addition, the expensive wood and metal boxes have been replaced at most bento shops with inexpensive, disposable polystyrene boxes. However, even handmade bento has made a comeback, and they are once again a common, although not universal, sight at Japanese schools. Bento are still used by workers as a packed lunch, and by families on day trips, school picnics, and sports days. Homemade bento are wrapped in a furoshiki cloth, which acts as both a carrying bag and a table mat.
Culture

In Japan, it is common for mothers to make bento for their children to take to school. Because making bento can take a while, some mothers will prepare the ingredients the night before, and then assemble and pack everything the following morning before their children go to school.[10] It is often a social expectation of mothers to provide bento for their children, to create both a nutritionally balanced and aesthetically pleasing meal.[11] This activity is expected of the mother and emphasized by society at large,[11] and is common in nursery school institutions.

The traditional bento that is eaten at school or at work is most often prepared by the mother or the wife. However, bento can also be bought at konbini (convenience stores) or from street vendors who appear on street corners at lunchtime. For those in a hurry who spend their lunch time aboard Shinkansen bullet trains, ekiben are available in train stations.

Osechi, an assortment of foods eaten around the Japanese New Year, is typically arranged in a multi-tiered jūbako box, similarly to bento.

The slang term hayaben (早弁), literally "early bento", refers to eating a bento before lunch and having another lunch afterward....

Types

By ingredients

    Hinomaru bentō (日の丸弁当), named and patterned after the flag of Japan (Hinomaru), is the name for a bento consisting of plain white rice with an umeboshi in the centre. Pure Hinomaru bento only consists of rice and an umeboshi to flavor the rice, without any other side dishes. The metal bento boxes once popular in Japan were often corroded by the acid from the umeboshi, eventually making a hole in the middle of the lid.
    Noriben (海苔弁) is nori dipped in soy sauce covering cooked rice.
    Sake bentō (鮭弁当) is a simple bento with a slice of broiled salmon as the main dish.
    Tori bento (鳥弁当) consists of pieces of chicken cooked in sauce served over rice. It is a popular bento in Gunma Prefecture.

By style or container

    Kamameshi bentō (釜飯弁当) are cooked and served in clay pots and sold at train stations in Nagano Prefecture. After eating, the pot becomes a souvenir item.
    Kyaraben (キャラ弁) are bento with the contents arranged to look like popular characters from anime, manga, or video games.
    Makunouchi bentō (幕の内弁当) is a classic style of bento with rice, umeboshi, a slice of broiled salmon, and a rolled egg.
    Shōkadō bentō (松花堂弁当) is a traditional black-lacquered bento box. It inspired IBM's ThinkPad design.[19]
    Wappameshi (わっぱめし) is a meal served in a special round wooden bento-styled container.[20]
    Shikaeshiben (仕返し弁) is "revenge" bento made by wives to get back at their husbands. Insults are written in the food, or it is made inedible.[21]

By origin

    Ekiben (駅弁) is bento sold at railway stations or onboard trains. There are many kinds of ekiben; most are inexpensive and filling.
    Hokaben (ホカ弁) is any kind of bento bought at take-out bento shops. Freshly cooked hot (hokahoka) rice is usually served with freshly prepared side dishes. The name was popularized after a pioneering take-out bento franchise in the field, Hokka Hokka Tei.
    Shidashi bentō (仕出し弁当) is made in a restaurant and delivered during lunch. This bento is often eaten at a gathering, such as a funeral or a party. It is usually packed with traditional Japanese foods like tempura, rice and pickled vegetables. A shidashi bento packed with European-style food is also available.
    Soraben (空弁) is bento sold at airports." (wikipedia)

"Novelty (derived from Latin word novus for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual.[1] Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an individual.[2]

From the meaning of being unusual usage is derived the concept of the novelty dance (a type of dance that is popular for being unusual or humorous); the novelty song (a musical item that capitalizes on something new, unusual, or a current fad); the novelty show (a competition or display in which exhibits or specimens are in way some novel); and novelty architecture (a building or other structure that is interesting because it has an amusing design). It is also this sense that applies to a novelty item, a small manufactured adornment, toy or collectible. These, in turn are often used as promotional merchandise in marketing.[3] The chess term, novelty, is used for a move in chess which has never been played before in a recorded game.[4]

The term can have pejorative sense and refer to a mere innovation. However, novelty in patent law is part of the legal test to determine whether an invention is patentable.[5] A novelty effect is the tendency for performance to initially improve when new technology is instituted." (wikipedia)

"A novelty item is an object which is specifically designed to serve no practical purpose, and is sold for its uniqueness, humor, or simply as something new (hence "novelty", or newness). The term also applies to practical items with fanciful or nonfunctional additions, such as novelty aprons, slippers, or toilet paper. The term is normally applied to small objects, and is generally not used to describe larger items such as roadside attractions. Items may have an advertising or promotional purpose, or be a souvenir....

This term covers a range of small manufactured goods, such as collectables, gadgets and executive toys. Novelty items are generally devices that do not primarily have a practical function. Toys for adults are often classed as novelties. Some products have a brief period as a novelty item when they are actually new, only to become an established, commonly used product" (wikipedia)