Australian mum was mocked by a teacher when her family moved to Tokyo because she sent her son to school with a Vegemite sandwich instead of homemade bento
- Mum was told ‘sandwiches’ were not ‘appropriate’ because they were ‘unhealthy’
- A Japanese teacher indicated the mother had to start packing bento boxes
- Bento boxes consists of rice or noodles, meat or fish and an array of vegetables
- The mother-of-three resorted to enrolling in a bento box making masterclass
An Australian mother was shamed by a teacher in Japan for giving her son a Vegemite sandwich for lunch instead of a homemade box of bento.
ABC journalist Catherine Taylor said her son had just started pre-school in Toyko when she was reprimanded by a male teacher.
According to Ms Taylor, the man took a picture of her son’s lunch on his phone before telling her ‘sandwiches’ were not ‘appropriate’ food because they were ‘unhealthy’.
The teacher then showed her pictures of bento depicting popular Japanese cartoons such as Hello Kitty and the Pokemon Pikachu, indicating that she should follow these standards.
A mother was told by a teacher ‘sandwiches’ were an ‘unhealthy’ choice for lunches and bento was better (stock image)
The blunt teacher showed the mother of images of bento boxes depicting popular Japanese cartoons, indicating the mum had to follow those standards
Ms Taylor said this was her first introduction to ‘chara-ben’, short for character bento.
Traditional bento boxes consist of rice or noodles, meat or fish and an array of vegetables.
But chara-ben is where diligent parents create characters and shapes out of food to make it more interesting.
Now, and entire industry has popped up in Japan to support the practice with supermarkets selling moulds to shape rice into cartoon characters and mini-cutters to slice food in particular shapes.
Ms Taylor said she had originally packed her son a lunch of Vegemite sandwiches, banana, muffin and capsicum slices and admitted that it looked ‘very yellow’.
By comparison the photographs of chara-ben showed mini- rice sculptures with ‘sweet faces’ made from seaweed and cheese, while carrots and sausages were slice to look like flowers and an octopus.
Ms Taylor told the ABC she eventually enrolled in a bento making class so she could keep up with the high standards.
She said she quickly learned that many Japanese parents believed the care they put into making bento boxes is a reflection of their love for their children.
Some Japanese mums have even signed up for classes on tips to produce the best looking lunches and turned to YouTube and Instagram for tricks and hacks