＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
Speaking of ekiben, the most famous is the “Toge no Kamameshi” (Toge Kamameshi), manufactured and sold by Oginoya in Annaka City, Gunma Prefecture. It was once described as “Japan’s most popular ekiben.”
1. Popular Ekiben at Tokyo Station
“Ekiben-ya Matsuri,” located on the first floor of Tokyo Station, Japan’s railway gateway and the country’s largest terminal, sells over 200 types of ekiben, from famous ekiben from all over Japan to bento that can only be enjoyed here. Following the lifting of the “self-restraint on travel between prefectures” on June 19th, ekiben sales at Tokyo Station seem to have returned to activity.
Today, we’ll introduce some of the most popular ekiben at “Ekiben-ya Matsuri” at Tokyo Station.
(1) Shinkineya “Beef Domanaka” (Price: ¥1,250)
“Beef Domanaka,” a Yonezawa specialty, was released in 1993 to coincide with the opening of the Yamagata Shinkansen in 1992, and remains a consistently popular ekiben. This box features plumply steamed “Domannaka” rice from Yamagata Prefecture, topped with minced beef and stewed beef seasoned with a special sweet sauce.
(2) Nihonbashi Daimasu “Tokyo Bento” (Price: 1,850 yen)
This box includes beef tsukudani (simmered food in soy sauce) from Asakusa Imahan, king salmon kasuzuke (pickled in sake lees) from Uokyu, and tamagoyaki (rolled omelet) from Sushi Tama Aoki.
(3) Shibata Sanshinken “Ebi Senryo Chirashi” (Price: 1,380 yen)
This is a specialty Niigata ekiben, and won the top ranking “Ekiben Taishogun” award in the “JR East Ekiben Aji no Jin 2017” contest. It’s a seafood-themed ekiben that’s popular nationwide.
(4) Awajiya’s “Hipparidako Rice” (Price: ¥1,080)
Since its release in 1998, this popular ekiben (station bento) has sold over 12 million units (as of December 2019) at Nishi-Akashi Station and other locations.
It features a distinctive ceramic octopus pot-shaped container and is filled with octopus, conger eel, and seasonal vegetables.
(5) Kobayashi’s “Gokusen Charcoal-Grilled Beef Tongue Bento” (Price: ¥1,380)
This popular ekiben lets you enjoy Sendai’s specialty, beef tongue. The secret to its popularity is the heating-type container, which allows you to enjoy the bento piping hot.
(6) Saito Shogetsudo’s “Hiraizumi Uni Rice” (Price: ¥1,200)
This “uni rice” from Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture, is one of the most popular seafood ekiben. It’s topped with generous portions of steamed sea urchin, soy-marinated salmon roe, and shredded egg.
(7) Ujiie Waiting Room’s “Ujiie Oyster Rice” (Price: ¥1,080)
This “oyster rice” is a specialty of Akkeshi, Hokkaido, and is a unique ekiben unique to Akkeshi, where oysters are shipped year-round.
This dish features rice cooked in oyster broth and hijiki seaweed, topped with seafood like oysters, whelks, and clams, as well as mountain produce like butterbur and shiitake mushrooms.
2. My Ekiben Memories
I can’t remember exactly when I first ate ekiben, but I do remember eating the grains of rice stuck to the inside of the lid of a “makunouchi bento” (a type of bento), and for some reason, the tea served in a small ceramic pot with a lid that doubles as a teacup, called a “train pot.”
The “train pot” gradually gave way to the “polyethylene tea pot” (plastic tea pot) from the 1950s, and the “polyethylene tea pot” also disappeared in the 1990s, replaced by “bottled drinks.”
3. My Favorite Ekiben
(1) Toyama’s “Masu Sushi”
Whenever there is an “ekiben convention” at a department store, I almost always buy “masu sushi” from Toyama. Wrapped in bamboo leaves, “masu sushi” has a taste that I never get tired of, and for me it is a “staple ekiben.”
(2) “eel bento” from Hamamatsu
When I was working as a salaryman, I often took advantage of the “eel bento” (boxed eel lunch) sold on the Shinkansen train at Hamamatsu Station on business trips to Tokyo.
The eel bowl I had at Tokyo Chikuyotei in the Rihga Royal Osaka was, of course, exquisite, but this was a slightly different flavor, and it was one of the pleasures of my short trip to Tokyo.
4. History of Ekiben
(1) Japan’s First Ekiben
The first ekiben is generally believed to have been a “rice ball” sold at Utsunomiya Station on July 16, 1885 (Meiji 18). It consisted of “two rice balls containing pickled plums, sprinkled with sesame salt, and garnished with pickled radish, wrapped in bamboo bark.”
In commemoration of this release date, July 16th has become “Ekiben Day.”
(2) The First “Packed Ekiben”
The first ekiben in a modern-day “packed” format is said to have been sold at Himeji Station in 1890 (Meiji 23).
This was a “double-packed bento” with the rice and side dishes packed separately, with the “three sacred treasures of ekiben”—tamagoyaki (rolled omelet), kamaboko (fish cake), and fish dish—as the main side dishes.
(3) Military Bento
Subsequently, with the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), ekiben became widely used and developed as “military bento,” meals served on board trains by Japanese military troops traveling for training or military deployments.
(4) “Toge no Kamameshi” (Cooked Rice at the Pass)
This is an ekiben from Yokokawa Station on the JR East Shinetsu Main Line. It gained popularity not by being sold at the station but at drive-ins and service areas. It was characterized by being served in a Mashiko ware earthenware pot.
(5) Hokkaido’s “Ikameshi” (Squid and Rice)
This is a ekiben sold at Mori Station on the JR Hokkaido Hakodate Main Line, but it has become popular after being sold at department stores and other locations.