Asia > Japan > Kansai > Kyoto > Articles > Bento with Mrs Osawa

I find myself in the middle of Mrs Osawa’s kitchen, in her 4th floor apartment. I am dressed in an apron and attempting to mould perfect spheres of cooked rice as my host looks on approvingly. It’s a surprisingly intimate situation given that Mrs Osawa and I have only just met.

Our meeting has been orchestrated by the Women’s Association of Kyoto, a unique group that organizes cultural lessons for visitors to Kyoto in a wide range of Japanese arts and crafts. The classes include Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), Tea Ceremony, Kimono Wearing, Origami, Koto (Japanese Harp), Calligraphy and conversational Japanese. The lessons are structured as mini homestays, taking place in the instructor’s home for up to 4 guests. Larger groups can also be accommodated, with lessons taking place in hotel banquet rooms or public facilities.

However it is the one-on-one lessons in the privacy of a Kyoto home that allow visitors not just a chance to learn a Japanese artform, but a unique opportunity to experience a taste of Japanese home life.

So this is how I find myself in Mrs Osawa’s kitchen, having signed up for a lesson in Japanese home cooking. Our task during our 2.5 hour lesson is to learn the various dishes that make up the Shokado Bento. Bento boxes are a popular dining choice throughout Japan. They can be found on restaurant menus, in department store food courts and at train stations – perfect for a meal on an intercity bullet train.

Having enjoyed this meal (which includes courses of fish, beef, pickled vegetables, rice and soup) on many occasions, I was curious to learn what went into each of these delicious dishes.

But before we get down to cooking, Mrs Osawa explains the special display on her dining room cabinet. In celebration of her daughter’s engagement and upcoming wedding, a series of elaborate paper models are proudly displayed. They include an old couple, to wish the young couple a long life together, and bamboo and plum trees, to wish them strength and prosperity respectively for their new life.

As we commence our cooking lesson, Mrs Osawa shares the fact that she had made such a lunch meal for her adult daughter each day since she was a school student, and only ceased the practice a week earlier. As we prepared each of the dishes in turn, carefully cutting cucumbers and eggplants, delicately rolling paper thin omelet and vigorously squeezing seaweed, it comes to mind that perhaps our teacher’s joy at her daughters wedding is a little related to the retirement from this daily chore!

In no time our dishes are ready, our Bento box assembled (those rice spheres came out a treat!), and we sit down to lunch together to enjoy our efforts.

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