Bento-box.it is the only Italian online shop selling bento boxes 100% made in Japan.

Bento (弁 当), or obento (お 弁 当) to use the honorific term, is the Japanese word for a complete meal served inside a box, where the different dishes are separated by dividers or enclosed in trays stacked on different levels. Generally the bento-box is wrapped in an elegant square of fabric (furoshiki) or in special bags together with the chopsticks. Beyond this basic definition, there are different types of bento boxes, with different purposes. There are the Makonouchi bento, elegant lacquered boxes, designed to be displayed at the table during formal occasions or to be served in restaurants, the Koraku bento, made specifically for picnics (suitable to be shared outdoors or in groups), Ekiben, pre-packaged meals to be sold at the train station to departing travellers.

The classic bento box is what Japanese housewives prepare for their children or husband, and it is a meal intended to be eaten at school or in the office.

The peculiarity of the bento lies in the fact that extreme care is taken in the preparation and presentation of the food, which is as important as the external appearance of the bento. In recent years, some styles for decorating food inside the lunch box have become particularly popular. The kyaraben, meaning “character bento,” requires food to be molded to look like the most popular Japanese cartoon, comic, or video game characters. Another style for bento is the “bento-portrait” oekakiben, in which food is used to portray people, animals, buildings, monuments, or things like flowers and plants.

Japanese tradition attributes an emotional value to the meal eaten away from  home: the bento box is a vehicle of positive feelings (the affection of those who prepare the meal towards those who consume it), such as joy, but also of negative feelings: wives , if offended by their husbands, they prepare food with drawings that convey their sense of anger, sometimes food is even deliberately made inedible: “shikaeshiben”.

Saying goodbye to the dull or monotonous lunch break has never been easier:

Inside the online shop there are endless varieties of bento boxes and accessories of various shapes, sizes, colors, perfect for both children and adults. Many of our bento boxes are available in limited edition, some series are produced for special events or designed both by Japanese and international artists, making the pieces of these collections unique.

In addition to being items that stand out for their original design, our bento boxes are also super-safe. Made entirely in Japan with the highest quality raw materials and excellent safety standards, they are free of harmful substances (such as BPA and phthalates) and are all microwave and dishwasher safe.

Purchasing a bento box means having the future of the planet at heart: the reusable lunch box helps reducing the impact on the environment, stopping the use of disposable plastic and paper.

Put one hand on the wallet and the other one on your health:

Thanks to your bento box, you will avoid having lunch out or ordering a take-away meal, a great help to keep your budget under control. The presence of compartments and separators will allow you to compose a well-balanced meal from a nutritional point of view and to keep portions of food under control: a valid help if you are on a diet or want to eat healthy!

Roomy and compact:

To each his own bento! Thanks to the capacity chart you can find the bento box matching your hunger. Bento boxes are extremely compact thanks to the compartments that can be stacked one on top of each other, but they can also be very spacious. You will not be disappointed in their capacities!