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US$ 112 per person

Time

Adults
US$ 112

Children (Ages 1-6)
US$ 56 -50%

Total US$ 112

✓ All taxes and fees included

Free cancellation until 48 hours before start

Anime-Inspired Bento: Create Character Lunches with Fresh Ingredients

US$ 112 per person

5.00 10 reviews

Starting time

11AM

Duration

2.5 hours

Min. participants

2 Participants

Language

English

Free cancellation until 48 hours before start

Discounted rates for children

What Guests Love About This Class

Friendly, detailed instructor guidance
Hands‑on character bento creation
Clear step‑by‑step instructions for beginners
Tips on sourcing fresh ingredients

Summary from 10 verified guest reviews

Cookly AI-generated overview

Read all 10 reviews →

About

Let’s turn Japanese animation into boxed bento lunch! With my cartoonist friend, we’ll design and make boxed lunch, using fresh ingredients of the season. Cutting seaweed and sheet of cheese so that it looks like faces of the character- it’s bit tricky but so much fun. I’ll advise you tips, so learn from me. When it is all set, let’s take pictures and show it off to the world!

Meet Your Host

Noriko,Tominaga

Noriko was inspired to share her culture and cuisine after an incredible experience she had cooking and eating with a local family living in rural New Zealand, where they use a boat regularly to get around. On her return to Japan, she began offering cooking lessons in Tokyo with the sole objective of sharing authentic Japanese food and culture with the world. She specializes not only in traditional cuisine like washoku gozen, seasonal and authentic Japanese dishes but also in showcasing modern trends that Japanese housewives’ use in their everyday cooking. Her specialty is ‘kyara-ben’, a character bento box in which she arranges food in elaborate styles to look like popular characters, people and animals. Her recipes are all about balance in flavor, nutrients and colors so your Japanese bento/gozen will be a treat for your eyes and taste buds. Noriko speaks impeccable English and is happy to share stories about food and culture in Japan over lunch. On the days Noriko is not available, another instructor at her school will be assigned to your cooking experience.

Japanese "Bento" is popular as "BENTO" overseas. "Chara-ben", a kind of bento which shapes rice and side dishes into manga and anime characters, is a unique culture of animation advanced country Japan, attracting attentions all over the world. In this plan, we gonna introduce you how to make a Chara-ben into popular characters among foreigners such as Kumamon and Totoro in English.
This will be an experience of making a very cute chara-ben decorated with seaweed and cheese easily. It will be too cute to be ate.
It is a new attempt to let foreigners get connections with Japanese culture through Japanese-style food. Hope you can have a fun character making experience on this occasion.

If you are interested in Home Style Japanese Cuisine Class please click here

Schedule

11:00 am: Introduction of today’s recipes and preparation
11:15 am: Demonstration and cooking lesson
12:45 pm: Tasting party
1:30 pm: End of class

Included Highlights

Maximum 6 participants

Recipe

Seasonal ingredients

Additional Information

Confirmation

You will receive the confirmation of your booking's availability within 24 hours.

Free Cancellation

Full refund will be issued for cancellation made at least 48 hours prior to the activity.

Guest Photos

Guest Reviews

5 /5

5.00

Based on 10 verified reviews

Joann

Jan 2023

Had a GREAT time!

We absolutely loved the class! Chisato said it was her 1st class teaching foreigners but she did an amazing job! We learned all kinds of methods to make cute Totoro Bento. They also told us where we can buy the ingredients so we can try to make at home. We forgot our umbrellas and they quickly contacted us and offered to bring our umbrellas to our hotel. We told them it was not needed. but wasn't that so thoughtful and nice! Highly recommend the class!!

Ying

Jun 2019

Fun,back to school kids memories!

It was an enjoyable experience making Cartoon Character Bento making:)

Florian

Apr 2019

Superb

I had the best time of my life! Luckily I was all by myself and got an exclusive introduction to the world of bento making! It was real fun and would do it again and again! Don’t miss this class when you are in Tōkyō!

Suong

Apr 2019

Great class, friendly teachers.

One of my unforetable experiences in Tokyo. The teachers were all very friendly and helpful. The character bento was so cute! The only thing I would change is more clear cut instructions on how to find the place. Google maps led me to the other side of the street and the picture of the front door was totally different. It's more accurate to say that the school is in the building facing the main road. The school even goes by a different name to Washocook

Amani

Jan 2019

Just Wow

This is it! This is definitely a gamechanger! We are from Canada and i brought my son with me for the Holidays. We took this class as our activity for the last two days in Japan. I love Japanese food but my son is quite picky eater. But when we started learning this home bento dishes, oh my he became very excited and i am very pleased with the chef. She was so kind and understanding and really creative. I was happy we took this class, i learned a lot. Now i can make Bento creatively at home and my son, surprisingly loved our finished products.

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