As anyone who makes (or has ever attempted to make) home-prepared bentos every day can attest to, getting out of bed to put together a balanced, nutritious, and visually appealing lunch is far from an easy task. Even with the existence of jaw-droppingly gorgeous bento masterpieces to inspire us to release the same amount of mouthwatering creativity into our own bento boxes, the truth of the matter is that most of us would very much rather hit the snooze button a few more times than try and create an edible work of art at six in the morning.

Fortunately, one of the newest hashtag trends on Japanese Twitter is sympathetic to this plight of morning lunch-makers. Introducing a way to instantly turn ordinary contents of a bento into a colorful delight is the hashtag #レインボー弁当 (#rainbowbento). The super easy trick is to line up differently colored okazu (side dishes) and ingredients in a beautiful rainbow over a bed of rice.

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No fancy ingredients are required to achieve a beautifully packed bento of this kind, and compared to the likes of chara-ben, octopus sausages, and decorative bento, rainbow bentos are quick and easy to make. It’s a subtle but drastically different way to enjoy the same old lunch for the umpteenth time, and might even give the illusion of tasting slightly more delicious.

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See more #レインボー弁当 creations on Instagram, or post your own bento masterpiece! Who wouldn’t be happy to see a brightly colored rainbow (and a tasty one at that) in the middle of their hectic day?


By - grape Japan editorial staff.