Character Bento Making Class in Nagoya: Kyaraben for Everyone

About

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to make Kyaraben—character bento boxes that are especially popular among children in Japan.

Kyaraben are known for their playful and creative designs, often inspired by anime characters or animals. These bento boxes are not only fun to make but are also considered a form of “edible art” that brings joy to both kids and adults.

In this class, we’ll create an adorable “sleeping bear” bento. The cute bear is snuggled under a silky egg blanket (kinshi tamago), accompanied by fun and flavorful side dishes like chicken meatballs and duck-shaped chikuwa fish cakes.

You’ll also pick up easy tips and tricks to help you recreate this charming bento at home, wherever you are in the world!

Menu

• Character Bento (Kyaraben)

Let’s make a cute sleeping bear bento box using chicken meatballs and other side dishes. You’ll learn simple tips to create an adorable character bento!

• Miso Soup

I’ll serve you a cup of tofu miso soup made with “Hatcho Miso.” There are many kinds of miso in Japan, but I use Hatcho Miso, a rich dark-brown miso made near my home.

• Cut-out "Mizu-Yokan"

Let’s make adorable shapes using cute molds pressed into Mizu-Yokan, Azuki red bean jelly! Must be an easy and cute dessert.

Schedule

• 11:00 am: Introduction of today’s recipes and preparation
• 11:10 am: Start of the hands-on cooking lesson
• 12:30 pm: Tasting 
• 1:30 pm: End of class