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At the beginning of October, most of us outside Japan are thinking about Halloween and Christmas. But inside Japan, something different is cooking. Now is the time that Japanese retailers start taking orders for osechi, a New Year’s bento box full of traditional and tasty Japanese foods.

But this year, one Japanese retailer has decided to put a spin-jump on things. They’re offering a Super Mario Bros.-themed osechi bento box to take your New Year’s Day dinner to a new level and impress all your family and friends. What’s inside this Bowser-sized box of goodies? Read on to find out!

Now we know what you might be thinking: “Isn’t it a little early to be thinking about News Year’s meals? It isn’t even Halloween yet!” That is a valid point, but due to the popularity of order-made osechi, orders must be taken months in advance to satisfy the demands of the Japanese masses. Thus the order-taking process for many osechi vendors starts around late September to early October. When it comes to getting that New Year’s Day dinner on the table, you’ve got to do some planning in advance.

And if you want to get a chance at getting one of these special Super Mario bentos, then you’re going to have to jump on it faster than you would an army of angry Goombas.

▼ The three-level Mario bento box. I wonder what delicious power-ups are inside?

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While character-themed osechi aren’t really that unusual, what makes this one so special is that it’s so big. Usually character osechi are created with just the children of the family in mind, and typically consist of a small but good mix of traditional and kid-friendly foods. However the Super Mario-themed osechi takes it to another level and has three tiers, packed with enough food for even the adults in the family to enjoy.

▼ There’s so much food in there that you could even invite Kirby over for dinner!

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In the top box there are Japanese New Year’s staples like kurikinton (a roasted chestnut dessert), kuromame (black beans), datemaki (rolled omelet), and rolled kombu (kelp), with assorted Japanese-style pickles and seafood mixed in. The second and third tiers have a mix of everything from shrimp in chili sauce to meatballs to peach-shaped rice cakes and roll cakes.

But food isn’t the only thing in these boxes. Each osechi set contains collectible cards commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Super Mario franchise.

▼ The set comes with 16 commemorative cards, each celebrating a different Mario title.

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The Super Mario Osechi Bento Set is currently available to order from the Japanese department store Takashimaya for a whopping 27,000 yen (US$225.71) with delivery to customers in Tokyo and all surrounding prefectures. You’d better hurry and start saving your coins now if you want to enjoy this tasty meal at your New Year’s Day dinner.

Source: Takashimaya via Hachima Kikou
Images: Takashimaya