Japanese Culture Workshop – Making Kyaraben –

On Sunday, September 23, 2022, we held a Japanese culture workshop at the Shimoyoshida Community Center for foreigners living in the city to introduce the art of making “kyaraben”.

Japan’s “bento” (boxed lunch) culture is famous around the world. People are drawn to bento not only because of their deliciousness, but also because of the richness of the ingredients packed into a small bowl, their nutritional balance, and their colorfulness. Among the various types of bento, “kyaraben”, which are modeled after popular anime and animals, are truly representative of Japanese food culture. All the participants were intently focused on crafting their own “kyaraben”.

Workshop instructor Erika

Watching the instructor intently

Ingredients for our My Neighbor Totoro themed kyaraben

The participants struggled through the detailed work to create cute and unique “kyaraben”

The final product

REVIEWS FROM PARTICIPANTS

“It was super fun!”

“I would like to continue trying to make different characters!”

“The level of detail was challenging”

“I was surprised and delighted that you can use the ingredients to recreate different things”

“I was happy to be able to create this”

“This has supercharged my interest in Japanese food culture. I would love to try other traditional cooking like ‘osechi’ next time”

“I would like to do more seasonal cooking”

Contact

Fujiyoshida City Hall / City Planning Department / City Planning Division / Host Town Office
TEL: 0555-22-1353
Email: kikaku@city.fujiyoshida.lg.jp
(Japanese Inquiries only)