From Ramen to Bento: The Most Iconic Food in Anime Posted Jul 14, 2022
Anime is one of the most successful exports of Japan, and there are now countless mainstream series around the world. Aside from helping international viewers get a better understanding of Japanese culture, anime has also boosted the notoriety of food from the country.
There are various foods that have appeared in the Japanese cartoons that are now iconic, with ramen, sushi, and bento being the main options.
Ramen
Ramen is the most common food found in anime, and it’s the staple dish of some of the best-known characters. Anime figures shoveling massive mouthfuls of noodles into their faces is a quintessential element of Japanese cartoons, and ramen restaurants tend to be popular settings for the action.
Prior to seeing ramen featured in anime, many people from the west may have been completely unaware of the food. It’s basically noodle soup that’s filled with various ingredients like sliced meat, vegetables, and boiled eggs. There are endless combinations of what you can include in ramen, meaning that the dish can appeal to a variety of tastes.
Sushi
Sushi is one of the world’s most recognizable gastronomical delights, and it’s almost as iconic as pizza. It has been a much-loved cuisine in the west for more than a century thanks to Japanese immigration in countries like the USA. However, in the early days, it was only eaten by the upper classes.
Sushi’s popularity grew exponentially from the 1960s onwards, and it has been boosted further in recent years by its inclusion as a staple dish in anime. There have been some great scenes featuring the food as well. For instance, in Gin Tama, Kagura ate a giant piece of sushi – fulfilling what would be a dream come true for lovers of these flavor-packed rolls.
Sushi is so well-known and aesthetically pleasing that it has been used across other areas of entertainment outside of anime. There are countless mobile games that feature it, including Sushi Roll 3D and Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido. There’s also the Bushi Sushi slot game available at PlayOJO, which is one of the many different casinos listed on this website. It’s recommended for its welcome bonus of 80 free spins to use on another themed slot machine, Trials of Asgard.
Bento Box
In the western world, people are accustomed to carrying packed lunches to work. These would usually consist of items like sandwiches and potato chips. In Japan, it’s all about the bento box, and these packed lunches are full of awesome taste sensations.
Once again, anime has helped to raise awareness of bento boxes, and they have often featured in Sailor Moon and Sakura the Cardcaptor. They include things like rice, vegetables, meat, and fish.
Food is a huge facet of anime shows, and it’s probably a good idea not to watch them on an empty stomach. Aside from these much-loved dishes, there are others like takoyaki, katsudon, and onigiri that have gained fame from their inclusion in anime.