Japanese Ekiben Bento Will Be Coming To Paris Train Stations From November

Illustration of a bento shop. (Wikimedia Commons/Gpwitteveen)

JAKARTA - Eating Bento is no longer only for Japanese people. Globalization brings bento to be famous and favorite in various parts of the world, because it is simple but nutritious and delicious for sure.

Traditionally familiar as a typical Japanese lunch packed in a box-shaped container, a bento set usually contains a menu with balanced nutrition, ranging from rice, meat or fish, pickles and vegetables.

Time travel brings bento which is synonymous with home-cooked food, becoming a ready-to-eat menu that is a favorite in fast food stalls, department stores, to transportation stations, such as trains for example.

Quoting Kyodo News September 20, if nothing goes wrong, the Japanese bento commonly called Ekiben, specifically available on trains and train stations for long-distance travel, will debut at Paris train stations, France next November. The menu offered, a chicken dish seasoned with rice.

Illustration of a bento. (Wikimedia Commons/Emily Jiang)

Hanazen, a company based in northeastern Japan's Akita Prefecture, said it will start selling bento meals that also feature local delicacies such as udon noodles and smoked pickled radishes, at Gare de Lyon station, which is one of France's largest stations with 160 million annual users. .

The ekiben bento will be sold at the pop-up shop at the station until April next year, as the company that started selling bento in 1899 in Akita Prefecture has been approved to operate the business by France's national railway company.

As part of efforts to promote the country's food culture, Hanazen also plans to sell 'daifuku' soft round rice cakes filled with sweet bean paste as well as Japanese sake.

In Japan, ekiben boxes are usually sold at kiosks, with passengers often carrying such bento meals on trains.

"If ekiben culture spreads, people might want to come to Akita Prefecture and eat there," Hanazen chief Shuichi Yagihashi said at a press conference at the prefectural government office last Tuesday.

Before arriving at the train station, the company had a subsidiary in France and opened an outlet in Paris in 2019.