Japanese movies and TV dramas often feature scenes of mothers making elaborate bento lunches from scratch for their offspring. Seeing these women washing rice in icy water with bare hands before the crack of dawn I reflect back to my own school lunches of PB&J or bologna sandwiches, assembled in minutes by my mother and devoured in even less time by me. Since the other kids brought similar comestibles from home, I had little cause for envy — or pride.