The Art of the Bento Box

By Vickie Chang

Wed., Nov. 4 2009 @ 5:03PM

Bentō is a Japanese word meaning "boxed lunch," or a single portion meal in a to-go container, one that's generally separated into different compartments. Bentos usually hold everything from rice and fish to meat, veggies and fruit, and they're so common in Japan that you can even find them in convenience stores.

The bento, however, has been since turned into an art-form, with tons of fans all over the world pouring energy into carefully arranging their lunch boxes into familiar characters, cute animals or even entire scenes. These artist/chefs get creative, using food to paint elaborate pictures.

Gemma Cox

Take a look through at some too-cute-to-eat bento boxes we've come across yet--look for a few cameos from a certain favorite ABC prime time series and uh, a Moogle.