You can now find bento everywhere in Japan in convenience stores, subway stations and restaurants. Bento is a tradition of home-made food. What we now call bento is a typical practical and attractive lunch box that is becoming popular all over the world.

Around the 5th century, the Japanese began to prepare food when they traveled or went outside. Historical records show that people prepared star rice and rice balls at home to eat when they were out hunting, farming or waging war.

Boxes first appeared about 1,000 years ago during the Kamakura Period (1185 to 1333), when they were used to carry rice.

"bento" is often thought to have originated from a 16th-century military commander named Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), who distributed food to many people in his castle. "bento" was coined to describe simple meals distributed in this way.

In the late 16th century, unique lacquered wood boxes were developed, and over the next few hundred years bento was used not only for packing lunches, but also for entertainment, theatre excursions, travel, tea parties and much more.

When railroads were introduced in Japan during the Meiji period (1868–1912), a type of bento sold at train stations, called ekiben, appeared.

The popularity of bento boxes declined in the early 1900s due to food shortages and their perceived luxury status

Bento came back into fashion in the 1980s with TV meals and other "convenience" dishes. By this time, the United States and other Western countries had learned the allure of the bento. Japanese-american sugar plantation workers were the first to bring bento to the United States.

Bento box became popular again thanks to microwave ovens and convenience stores