Japanese Station Lunchbox Wrappers

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Ruth McDonald
6 years ago
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Japanese Station Lunchbox Wrappers Railways started in Japan in 1872.

It is widely believed that ekiben started when a Japanese hotel owner sold a lunchbox containing two rice balls and several slices of pickled radish at Utsunomiya Station

Today, most are sold from platform kiosks and onboard wagon services.

socio-political comment. This article presents some of the wrappers used on the Tohoku and Tokaido main lines.

1 Japanese Station Lunchbox Wrappers Railways started in Japan in As the network spread and more people travelled by train, there was increasing demand for more onboard food services. One answer to this need was ekiben station lunchboxes. It is widely believed that ekiben started when a Japanese hotel owner sold a lunchbox containing two rice balls and several slices of pickled radish at Utsunomiya Station in Initially, ekiben were sold from the platform to passengers leaning out the windows of trains standing at stations. Today, most are sold from platform kiosks and onboard wagon services. With the rise in ekiben sales, wrapper designs became more elaborate, evolving from a simple bamboo leaf of 1885 to colourful designs showing local tourist spots, and even socio-political comment. This article presents some of the wrappers used on the Tohoku and Tokaido main lines. The Tohoku main line is a key artery connecting Tokyo with Morioka and Aomori in northeast Japan. It opened in September 1891 and 2011 marked the 120th anniversary. Nagano Decades-old photograph of ekiben sales through train windows while standing at platform (The Railway Museum) Ekiben kiosk at Ueno Station (NRE) The Kodama limited express (introduced in 1958) with sealed windows made purchase from the platform impossible and marked the start of onboard cafeteria services. (Akira Hoshi)

2 P.4 Yamagata Sendai Iwanuma Yamagata Shinkansen Joetsu Shinkansen Niigata Koriyama Station Ekiben sold at Koriyama Station in 1930 with picture of steam locomotive Yonezawa Fukushima Station Fukushima Ekiben sold at Fukushima Station in 1929 containing inari-zushi flavoured rice stuffed in fried tofu pouch Koriyama Tohoku Shinkansen Shirakawa Shirakawa Station Ekiben sold at Shirakawa Station on 4 May 1931 with picture of Nanko Park and slogan do not waste rice harvested by hard-working farmers Kuroiso Nagano Shinkansen Utsunomiya Kuroiso Station Ekiben sold at Kuroiso Station in 1935 Takasaki Oyama Omiya Akabane Utsunomiya Station Ekiben sold at Utsunomiya Station with picture of sumo wrestler Tokyo Ueno Oyama Station Ekiben sold at Oyama Station in 1940

Japanese Station Lunchbox Wrappers Shin-Aomori Aomori P.

with poem by Takuboku Ishikawa from Morioka City Akita Morioka Akita

Station Ekiben sold at Sendai Station on 16 May 1928 with pictures of Aoba

Station Ekiben sold at Iwanuma Station on 3 March 1931 with pictures of

3 Japanese Station Lunchbox Wrappers Shin-Aomori Aomori P.3 Hachinohe Morioka Station Ekiben sold at Morioka Station in pre-war era with poem by Takuboku Ishikawa from Morioka City Akita Morioka Akita Shinkansen Omagari Tohoku Shinkansen Kitakami Hiraizumi Shinjo Sendai Station Ekiben sold at Sendai Station on 16 May 1928 with pictures of Aoba Castle (top) and Godaido Temple Hall (below) Yamagata Sendai Iwanuma Station Ekiben sold at Iwanuma Station on 3 March 1931 with pictures of nearby famous tourist spots, including shrines and seashore Iwanuma Yamagata Shinkansen Continued on page 65

Photostory Japanese Station Lunchbox Wrappers The first section of the Tokaido main line opened

The Tokaido corridor was, and still is, the most important trunk route linking Tokyo with Kyoto,

66-67 Ogaki Kyoto Station Kyoto Station ekiben with design of famous tourist spots in city

1931 with picture of Osaka Castle at back and Osaka Railway Office at front Kyoto Otsu Takatsuki

4 Photostory Japanese Station Lunchbox Wrappers The first section of the Tokaido main line opened in 1872 between Shimbashi and Yokohama. The Tokaido corridor was, and still is, the most important trunk route linking Tokyo with Kyoto, the ancient capital, and Osaka, the centre of commerce and industry in west Japan. P Ogaki Kyoto Station Kyoto Station ekiben with design of famous tourist spots in city Maibara Sekigahara Tokaido Main Line Omi-Hachiman Osaka Station Ekiben sold in Osaka Station in 1931 with picture of Osaka Castle at back and Osaka Railway Office at front Kyoto Otsu Takatsuki Tokaido Shinkansen San yo Shinkansen Shin-Kobe Kobe Shin-Osaka Osaka San yo Main Line Maibara Station Ekiben sold in Maibara Station with picture of Lake Biwa at centre 65

5 Japanese Station Lunchbox Wrappers P.65 Gifu Ogaki Nagoya Station Ekiben sold in Nagoya Station with a picture of Nagoya Castle keep at top left Nagoya Anjo Hamamatsu Station Eel and rice ekiben sold at Hamamatsu Station in 1926 showing popular Lake Hamanako tourist spot (Tenri Gallery) Shizuoka Tokaido Shinkansen Koda Gamagouri Toyohashi Kakegawa Hamamatsu Shizuoka Station Very descriptive wrapper for rice and sea bream ekiben sold in Shizuoka in 1929 (Tenri Gallery) 66

Shimbashi Shinagawa Tokyo Yokohama Station

statue of Ii Naosuke, who opened Japan to

Yokohama harbour Shin- Yokohama Kawasaki

(Gotemba Line) Kozu Ofuna Odawara Fuji Mishima

in Kozu Station on 16 October 1938 Ofuna

6 Shimbashi Shinagawa Tokyo Yokohama Station Ekiben sold at Yokohama Station in 1919 with statue of Ii Naosuke, who opened Japan to western countries, leading to development of Yokohama harbour Shin- Yokohama Kawasaki Yokohama Tokaido Shinkansen Old Tokaido Line (Gotemba Line) Kozu Ofuna Odawara Fuji Mishima Numazu Atami Shimizu Kozu Station Ekiben sold in Kozu Station on 16 October 1938 Ofuna Station Ekiben (sandwiches) sold at Ofuna station in 1931 (Tenri Gallery) 67

New Shinkansen Carriages

New Shinkansen Carriages New Carriages Series E7/W7 The Series E7 shinkansen (called W7 by JR West) was developed jointly by and JR West for use on sections between Tokyo and Kanazawa (Nagano Kanazawa section due open in 14 March