Japan's new 'boxed-lunch men' learning to cater for themselves

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Cliffy at 09:49 PM JST - 15th July

I do not think it is that hard to cook. I did not take any lesson but learned by watching my mom cook and as soon as I left home to study aboard in my teen, I cooked for myself. Of course, once in a while I will crave for something better then my own cooking.
ca1ic0cat at 01:05 AM JST - 16th July

I didn't have a problem learning to cook but then again blowing things up in the lab came easily as well....
Badsey at 02:27 AM JST - 16th July

"I have learned how to cut onions without shedding tears"

-that made me cry.

Innovation is thru experimentation.
kirakira25 at 02:55 AM JST - 16th July

it doesn't take a genius to slap together a little lunch

You have obviously never met my daughter's kindergarten bento nazis! I regularly get phone calls saying this that and the other is "dame!" It seems that we foreign mums, along with never being capable of understanding Japanese culture, the importance of PTA and how to dress appropriately for a mother are also mentally incapacitated when putting together a nutritious bento for our kids too. I despair.

Maybe I should pay a young salaryman to do it.....
motytrah at 04:42 AM JST - 16th July

Keep in mind Japan didn't have it's first show about stay at home dads until 2004. That's when "At Home Dad" with Abe Hiroshi and Miyasako Hiroyuki came out. That's 21 years after "Mr. Mom" came out in the west.

Perhaps the acceptance of Men making meals will help reduce the stigma of families where both the man and woman work.
MeanRingo at 05:00 AM JST - 16th July

Don't know why everyone is ripping on the J-men here. Making your own lunch IS difficult. I lost a hand the first time I tried. Severed my left hand clear off while trying to cut the loaf of bread for my sandwich. The chainsaw just cut right through the loaf and continued on to my old south paw. It was the last time I tried to make lunch for myself.
IvanCoughalot at 10:23 AM JST - 16th July

inviting bloggers to send photos of handmade boxed lunches. When such photos are posted on the website, the number of hits soars.

For me, this is the most depressing couple of sentences in this entire soul-crushing article. People take pictures of a packed lunch and submit them to the internet.

What's the betting there is also a bulletin board where other users can post their opinions on the submissions, and each post is a one-word "Jouzu" or "Oishii-so" followed by cutesy icons, like those appalling blogs sad women have of their cats in costumes? (Except on those blogs the comments are limited to an unchanging "kawaii", rather than "oishii", although I quite fancy ...never mind).
griff at 10:27 AM JST - 16th July

a bit like the air-head girls whose keitais are full of pictures of cakes they've eaten, or the latest starbucks sugar delivery device
fishy at 01:52 PM JST - 16th July

my 7-year-old son can make Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches :) hooray !
Sammi33 at 11:23 PM JST - 16th July

You have obviously never met my daughter's kindergarten bento nazis! I regularly get phone calls saying this that and the other is "dame!" It seems that we foreign mums, along with never being capable of understanding Japanese culture, the importance of PTA and how to dress appropriately for a mother are also mentally incapacitated when putting together a nutritious bento for our kids too. I despair.

Maybe I should pay a young salaryman to do it.....

that's beyond ridiculous....according to them, a rice ball with a bit of over-salted over-sugared seaweedy substance on it, a sausage, and a mini tomato is nutritionally balanced for a 3 year old. And are they the moms I see walking along in high heels with a designer bag looking at their keitai while the kid toddles along 3 feet behind them crying to slow down?
IvanCoughalot at 07:00 AM JST - 17th July

Sammi - I recommend you tell the next person who phones you up at home telling you what and how to feed your child to come round and discuss it. Meet them at the door with a live goat in one hand and a carving knife in the other, with the theme from The Omen playing in the background.

I guarantee they'll not bother you again.
stirfry at 05:42 PM JST - 17th July

when referring to the local male population, the word "men" should always be put in parentheses
stirfry at 05:42 PM JST - 17th July

or, uh, quotation marks
onewrldoneppl at 10:32 PM JST - 21st July

making a japanese style obento is easiest when you use leftovers and reito shokuhin. fast, easy & nutritious. if you have one of those triple-decker lunchboxes that keeps the hot stuff hot, while the cool stuff remains cool, then you're even further ahead of the game ... ha ha ha. but, yeah, it is difficult because lunchboxes are not sectioned so, a portion of the meal it usually touching/mixing with whatever's next to it. if you join a japanese cooking class, you'll see what i mean. most children are ashamed to let their classmates see what's in their obento, if there parent(s) have tried to make it appetizing/artistic ... ha ha ha. it's a source of pride.
Sarge at 10:51 PM JST - 21st July

I'll bet the boxed lunches for men have curry rice and a can of beer.