Obento

is accompanied by a little green fringe-cut plastic representing the bamboo leaf which, in former times was put into the box to indicate freshness, as the leaf would desiccate at a fairly predictable rate.

Foods and garnishes are often shaped and colored to indicate the season or event. One amusing feature is the little green fringe-cut plastic film often found in box lunches. Box lunches are, of course, perishable. In olden days there was no requirement for printing 'Consume by' labels. To indicate freshness, box lunch (obento) makers would place the food on green bamboo leaves, which desiccate at a fairly predictable rate. If you opened the box and the leaves were green, good and well. If they were turning brown, the food was clearly not as fresh as it should be. However, the tradition of using freshly cut bamboo leaves is hard to keep up in modern Japan, and so the evergreen plastic strip has been substituted

obento, n.All

obento