Bento is a big deal in Japan and competitive mothers are always trying to out-do each other, striving to create the cutest lunchbox. Lucky for them, Japanese companies have come up with a plethora of tools to add smiley faces, shapes, or words of encouragement to any food. Let’s take a look at just a few of the many items you can buy to spruce up your bento!
First up, there are plenty of imprint tools to give your bread or sausages a friendly animal face:
There’s also a smattering of shapers to mold your food into a unnatural, yet adorable shape:
How about some templates to add faces, words, or shapes to your lunch?:
These seaweed cutters give life to an otherwise plain ball of rice:
And wrappers are a quick and easy way to color up your lunchbox:
But if you’re really running low on time, these festive shakers, containers and toothpicks will instantly add some cute:
All of the items you’ve seen here can be found on Rakuten Japan for prices ranging from 308 yen (US$2.96) for the cat and dog toothpicks to 1,780 ($17.10) for the egg yolk shaper. As you may have already realized, your bento will start to get pretty expensive depending on how many cutters, shapers, and accessories you buy. But at least you’ll have the cutest food at the lunch table!
Images: Rakuten Japan (1, 2, 3, 4)