A bento is a single-portion meal packed into a box, with rice, a protein, and a few small side dishes arranged in separate compartments. Its origins as portable food go back at least to Japan's Kamakura period (1185-1333), when dried rice called hoshi-ii let travelers and farmers carry a meal that kept without refrigeration; some accounts trace boxed lunches as far back as the 5th century.
Traditional bento balances color, texture, and flavor across its compartments -- rice, grilled or fried protein, pickled or cooked vegetables, and often tamagoyaki (a sweet rolled omelet). Variants include kyaraben (food arranged as characters or animals), noriben (a simple rice-and-seaweed bento), and mukōzuke (built around one main dish, such as sashimi). Bento are sold throughout Japan in convenience stores and train stations and packed daily for school and work, and bento-style meals are now common well beyond Japan.