The opportunities offered to Japanese young women are very similar to the opportunities provided by industrialization in America and immigrants from Europe to America - you had a chance to leave home, be invested in, have privacy (a room of one’s own Virginia Woolf), make some of your own decisions (Brooklyn, colm Toibin) deprioritize marriage and child bearing, send money to your family, learn a new skill, form opinions of your own.
I have actually never seen this famous Japanese movie! I wonder why this director always chose young female protagonists. Maybe he is trying to support someone 🥰
*kinpira gobo is my favorite Japanese homemade meal!! Please save your discarded parts and parcel to me!! Haha
Miyazaki's preference for young female protagonists is pretty notable. I watched both of the documentaries he did - Kingdom of Dreams and Madness and neverending man - but he doesn't seem to address it much from what I recall.
There's also an anime called Nana that's kind of like a grown up version of Kiki, but set in Tokyo in the boom years. it's a little slow and I haven't gotten through all of it, but it has really complicated relationships and this very sincere exploration of what being adult means that I enjoy.
The kinpira gobo is essential actually! it's one of the main sources of fiber in the ekiben typically so I always eat it now. In Hokkaido I had a preparation where they cook fish eggs with it, which was very tasty.
Wait is this related to the movie with Mika nakashima? I didn’t see it but my sister did she said it was not very good which saddened me because I LOVE Mika nakashima she is so beautiful 😍
I felt wistful reading this on an Amtrak Norheast Corridor train, and not just because I miss the speed and comfort of the shinkansen. I learned so much reading this and I wish I knew this history and cultural significance before I visited Japan for the first time last year. Hopefully, if the world isn't broken by this administration by 2026, I can return and put the lessons here to good use. I know I already want to start south at Fukuoka and train my way up back to Tokyo -- including another ride on the Hello Kitty shinkansen, if it's still active, for that branded ekiben -- and make an effort to collect and eat the ekiben from the stops along the way (instead of just napping most of the time).
I’m going to put out a guide on this! But long story short, the ekiben are most likely to be near the beginning or end of long haul train routes or at regional rail centers like Sendai.
Thanks, I'm looking forward to reading that! In hindsight, I know I missed a lot of opportunities at Tokyo Station last year because I took the first train out of Tokyo for my day trips to other cities. So I wound only thinking about that nap I could take on the shinkansen after I stayed awake to hopefully catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji, haha.
As a Cantonese/HK American I didn’t really understand the biandang culture and then I did a lot of project work in Taiwan and . . . what the heck? Cold Chinese meals? I didn’t get it - but now that I’ve had a couple of decades I started to really appreciate a lunch box with little bits of everything - but didn’t know about the link from Chinese to Japanese back to Chinese
Thanks Terence! In Taiwan, you might have run into a lot of places selling this kind of bento called chisang biandang, which features koshikari rice grown in Chisang Township, and it's directly modeled on a japanese train bento. It comes in a cedar box, and in Taitung, where there was once a railroad station hosting a major long haul route, there's even a chisang bento museum that serves it. There's even a place somewhere in Taiwan that serves chisang bento out of a repurposed train car.
The ones I had were mainly for work and were purchased with “cheapest” and “feeding a lot of staff” in mind so I’m sure they were not chosen with taste in mind. But better than when I worked on McDonald’s projects for 3 months in the Philippines AND in Taiwan
Frank, I’m always delighted to read your posts, because I know I’ll learn something new.
I wish I’d read this before my trip to Japan last fall; we were the tourists who didn’t know any better and got hot ekiben from the food court below the platform—which was delicious, but still, I wish we’d have known more about the ritual we were taking part in. Appreciate your work SO much. I’m counting this read as cultural enrichment for my next trip (because once you’ve been to Japan, it’s hard to think about leaving it forever, isn’t it?).
Good luck on your continued quest! I can’t wait to keep reading.
Thanks Amy! Some of the translated ekiben blogs I read talk about how it's kind of a blurry boundary between officially recognized ekiben, mall food court ekiben, and ekiben which happen to be sold near train stations. Local airports all have their own kinds of ekiben too, which I haven't tried yet. Personally, I think you could call them all ekiben, but you're more likely to encounter historic and unusual ekiben at the ekiben-specific shops.
Interesting! What’s the reason behind that, nutrition related, you think? lol no I haven’t been to McDonald’s in Barstow but that’s exactly the kind of rec I will take, thank you
The opportunities offered to Japanese young women are very similar to the opportunities provided by industrialization in America and immigrants from Europe to America - you had a chance to leave home, be invested in, have privacy (a room of one’s own Virginia Woolf), make some of your own decisions (Brooklyn, colm Toibin) deprioritize marriage and child bearing, send money to your family, learn a new skill, form opinions of your own.
I have actually never seen this famous Japanese movie! I wonder why this director always chose young female protagonists. Maybe he is trying to support someone 🥰
*kinpira gobo is my favorite Japanese homemade meal!! Please save your discarded parts and parcel to me!! Haha
Miyazaki's preference for young female protagonists is pretty notable. I watched both of the documentaries he did - Kingdom of Dreams and Madness and neverending man - but he doesn't seem to address it much from what I recall.
There's also an anime called Nana that's kind of like a grown up version of Kiki, but set in Tokyo in the boom years. it's a little slow and I haven't gotten through all of it, but it has really complicated relationships and this very sincere exploration of what being adult means that I enjoy.
The kinpira gobo is essential actually! it's one of the main sources of fiber in the ekiben typically so I always eat it now. In Hokkaido I had a preparation where they cook fish eggs with it, which was very tasty.
Wait is this related to the movie with Mika nakashima? I didn’t see it but my sister did she said it was not very good which saddened me because I LOVE Mika nakashima she is so beautiful 😍
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0471834/
Yes root veggies are so good for you! Have you tried oden yet?
Frank, this is so good. on so many levels.
Thanks Alison 🫶🏼
I felt wistful reading this on an Amtrak Norheast Corridor train, and not just because I miss the speed and comfort of the shinkansen. I learned so much reading this and I wish I knew this history and cultural significance before I visited Japan for the first time last year. Hopefully, if the world isn't broken by this administration by 2026, I can return and put the lessons here to good use. I know I already want to start south at Fukuoka and train my way up back to Tokyo -- including another ride on the Hello Kitty shinkansen, if it's still active, for that branded ekiben -- and make an effort to collect and eat the ekiben from the stops along the way (instead of just napping most of the time).
I’m going to put out a guide on this! But long story short, the ekiben are most likely to be near the beginning or end of long haul train routes or at regional rail centers like Sendai.
Thanks, I'm looking forward to reading that! In hindsight, I know I missed a lot of opportunities at Tokyo Station last year because I took the first train out of Tokyo for my day trips to other cities. So I wound only thinking about that nap I could take on the shinkansen after I stayed awake to hopefully catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji, haha.
As a Cantonese/HK American I didn’t really understand the biandang culture and then I did a lot of project work in Taiwan and . . . what the heck? Cold Chinese meals? I didn’t get it - but now that I’ve had a couple of decades I started to really appreciate a lunch box with little bits of everything - but didn’t know about the link from Chinese to Japanese back to Chinese
Thanks Terence! In Taiwan, you might have run into a lot of places selling this kind of bento called chisang biandang, which features koshikari rice grown in Chisang Township, and it's directly modeled on a japanese train bento. It comes in a cedar box, and in Taitung, where there was once a railroad station hosting a major long haul route, there's even a chisang bento museum that serves it. There's even a place somewhere in Taiwan that serves chisang bento out of a repurposed train car.
The ones I had were mainly for work and were purchased with “cheapest” and “feeding a lot of staff” in mind so I’m sure they were not chosen with taste in mind. But better than when I worked on McDonald’s projects for 3 months in the Philippines AND in Taiwan
Frank, I’m always delighted to read your posts, because I know I’ll learn something new.
I wish I’d read this before my trip to Japan last fall; we were the tourists who didn’t know any better and got hot ekiben from the food court below the platform—which was delicious, but still, I wish we’d have known more about the ritual we were taking part in. Appreciate your work SO much. I’m counting this read as cultural enrichment for my next trip (because once you’ve been to Japan, it’s hard to think about leaving it forever, isn’t it?).
Good luck on your continued quest! I can’t wait to keep reading.
Thanks Amy! Some of the translated ekiben blogs I read talk about how it's kind of a blurry boundary between officially recognized ekiben, mall food court ekiben, and ekiben which happen to be sold near train stations. Local airports all have their own kinds of ekiben too, which I haven't tried yet. Personally, I think you could call them all ekiben, but you're more likely to encounter historic and unusual ekiben at the ekiben-specific shops.
Interesting! What’s the reason behind that, nutrition related, you think? lol no I haven’t been to McDonald’s in Barstow but that’s exactly the kind of rec I will take, thank you