Bento are prepared with the utmost care and ingredients are selected not only for their flavor and nutrition but also for their ascetic appeal. Bento packaging may be quite elaborate and is carefully matched with the food for an appealing visual affect.
Making Bentos have always been something of an art. However, in recent years it has become popular to make actual pictures with bento. It started with Moms who wanted to make their food more appealing to kids by making cute characters with the food. This became all the rage with young kids and soon Mom's around Japan were under pressure to make cuter and cuter bentos. The term "Kyaraben" (from "character bento") was coined to describe this new phenomenon.
People have become increasingly creative with Kyaraben and there are now national Kyaraben competitions in Japan. Kyaraben are some of the most visually interesting food ever created. Check out these twenty insanely cute examples:
1. Spa girl
2. Pandas
3. Mock Lobster
4. Spiderweb
5. Bear
6. Deviled egg
7. Christmas Bento
8. Korean theme
9. Rose
10. Hello Kitty
11. Geisha
12. Initials
13. Elephant
14. Bunny
15. More bears
16. Bread-man
17. Cats
18. Dumpling guys
19. Onigiri guys
20. Peko-chan and ghosts
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