Others say...

"Excellent Bento Lunches"
This book is both an excellent introduction to bento lunches and a great inspiration for experienced cooks packing bentos for their loved ones. I have made nearly every recipe in this book and I have not been disappointed. Each recipe is made in a small quantity and most can be made in under 30 minutes, making this an excellent cookbook for small households (1-2 people). I have also increased the quantities to adapt the recipes for dinner. There are pictures to accompany each recipe, but for the beginner it might be worthwhile to pick up an additional guide to Japanese cooking. As with anything it might take some experimentation to adjust the recipes to your liking.

I've been running a bento blog for going on 2 years and found the best way to learn about bento is to search web for Japanese bento blogs. Type the word "bento" in hiragana or try photo sites. This book is an excellent accompaniment to that sort of research because it enables you to identify what many of the items are and provides you with a recipe.

My only complaint is the book should have been spiral bound and laminated. My copy is in pretty bad shape from being used so much.

"Nice pictorial intro to bento, but not too practical "
I run two food blogs, one focused mainly on Japanese cooking, the other just on bento lunches. (I'm Japanese but live outside of Japan.) I finally got around to taking a look at this book.

The pros: it's a nice visual introduction to fairly traditional bento lunch boxes. (Keep in mind that 'bento' can be something other than a portable lunch.) The presentation is very attractive.

The cons: even as someone familiar with the ingredients and cooking methods I thought that this book looked rather intimidating, because just about every single recipe calls for ingredients that are only available from Japanese groceries. Actually quite a lot of the recipes call for ingredientat that would be very hard to get outside of Japan. Clearly this is a translation of a Japanese bento book, and no consideration is given at all to how available certain ingredients may be or not. (This is something I always try to keep in mind on my sites.)

The presentation feels just a bit outdated to me. Current bento books in Japan have a much simpler, modern feel. The instructions are also rather abbreviated, as if the intended audience is the fairly experienced Japanese cook (which it probably was when it was written originally).

So, I think for most people who don't live in Japan this would be a nice picture book to have around, perhaps as inspiration and eye candy, but perhaps not too useful for everyday lunch making for a typical American.


"Kind of short and unimaginitive"
This book has some nice pictures but is very short. I wasn't blown away by any of the recipes. It's more about making eye-candy then serious food.

"Not for the beginner"
While most of the recipes can be executed as described, some are missing key steps or oversimplifying. Case in point the directions for tamago. It says to combine the ingredients and make an omelet in a square pan.

What is left out is that you are supposed to pour part of the egg mixture into the pan. As it sets up, fold it in half so it sits on one side of the pan. Then pour more of the egg into the bare part of the pan. When it sets up, roll the previously cooked half back over the newly added side. Repeat the process.

This changes the texture of the finished product as well as the appearance.

Also as a word of warning, these will take a while to make. Some of the lunches presented incorporate 3-4 separate dishes. However you can mix and match so the book is a great resource in that sense. In addition the photos are beautiful and helps to make up what is missing in the directions.


"An American Review"
I am an American, and also of Japanese background (i.e., born in the States and - unfortunately can't converse in Japanese.) I have an extensive culinary knowledge too with a background in Food Science from UCD. I'm a bit taken a back by the comments from reviewers who state they need more background as "Americans." I've known since a child gobo root, the various seaweed types and other ingredients--I'm in no way surprised that abura-age (fried tofu pouches) is a standard item in bento being such a yummy item--goodness I remember having Miso ALL the time as a kid--and as a kid thinking "again!?". I don't see the same comments for books on specialized/regional Italian cuisine (what is polenta, spaghetti, Parmesan Regiano, Italian parsley--because for Westerners, focusing on Americans of European background this is all obvious--Imagine a newly immigrated person from a non-European country trying to follow an "American" recipe and not being given details of say the difference between cake flour, regular flour, bread flour--or even using the tags of winter and spring wheat flour? Or unsalted (also called sweet!) butter and "butter" (also called salted butter!) or for other European cuisines -- what's Brie vs. Camembert, or buttermilk? corned beef? If you want to learn the foods of other nations, you need to start with the basic cook books of that nation--here you will find more details about ingredients, etc. Specialty books like this will assume rudimentary knowledge, just like a specialty book in Italian food will assume you know the difference between Parmesan, Assiago cheeses or capellini and linguini and you know what Arborio rice is without explanation. My recommendation for those less versed in Japanese cuisine is "The Joy of Japanese Cooking" (and like the western version--lacking on photos/drawings) and "A Dictionary of Japanese Food:Ingredients & Culture." Once you learn the lingo, everyday Japanese cooking is really no big deal. For example, all them seaweeds are dried and stay in your pantry for a year. I buy abura-age fresh then throw them in the freezer and take one out at a time as needed--if you don't have a market that sells fresh abura-age you can substitute slice firm tofu seasoned with soy sauce (aka shoyu) that's been pan fried (with or without oil) or toasted until brown in a toaster oven.
Don't give up! Everyday Japanese cuisine is not difficult... just a learning curve like any other cuisine you're not familiar with!