Aesthetics Of The Japanese Lunchbox; Author: Ekuan, Kenji; Paperback

Author: Ekuan, Kenji
Paperback; 65 Colour Illustrations
210 pages
Published: December 2000
The MIT Press
ISBN: 0262550350

The Makunouchi Bento, or traditional Japanese lunchbox, is a highly lacquered wooden box divided into quadrants, each of which contains different delicacies. But Kenji Ekuan reveals that a much deeper reading is possible, one that sees the lunchbox as nothing less than a key to an understanding of Japanese civilization.Ekuan reads the Japanese lunchbox as both object and metaphor. Inso doing, he unlocks the secrets of ancient Japanese rituals, celebrates the aesthetics of Japanese design, explores the contours of Japanese landscapes and technology, and delineates the forty-eightrules of the etiquette of Japanese form. With an agility more characteristic of poetry than of design criticism, he connects everything from food, television, motorcycles, package tours, and departmenThe author finds the traditional Japanese lunchbox a touchstone for discovering the country's landscape, culture, and aesthetic sensibilities. Kenji Ekuan reveals that a deeper reading for the traditional Japanese lunchbox: seeing the lunchbox as nothing less that a key to an understanding of Japanese civilization, the spirit of form, and the aesthetic ideal in which the many are reduced to one.