We grew up making and bentos in Hawa'i. A bento is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento holds rice, fish or meat, with pickled or cooked vegetables. Available for purchase throughout Japan, many homemakers carefully prepare lunch boxes. Bentos elaborately arranged are called "kyaraben" ("character bento") look like popular characters from anime, manga, or video games. Ekiben are bentos sold at train stations.