This summer, my Japanese friend Miyuki and her two girls stayed with us, and all our kids attended summer camp together. Each morning, we made our kids’ lunch boxes together.

Here’s what hers looked like on a typical day:

Japanese mom lunch: Rice balls, wrapped in seaweed, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, grapes.

Here’s what mine looked like:

American mom lunch: egg salad sandwiches (in foil), bar, carrots, blueberries, goldfish, strawberries, tangerines

Although our lunch techniques were not all that different (her kids had rice, mine sandwiches), the results sure LOOKED different. The difference was mainly in the presentation.

One thing I noticed that WAS different in our techniques is that she was willing to cook food especially for her kids’ lunchboxes.

I am not. Since I have to walk out the door dressed and ready to go straight to work right after I drop my kids at school, camp or pre-K, the LAST thing I want is to create a sink full of pots and pans to wash before I have to leave.

I pondered: Japanese moms are the undisputed champs of the visually gorgeous packed lunch.

But, these lunches, and other gorgeous Japanese bento lunches I admire, almost always involve actual cooking to make. Who has time?

The challenge: Can an American mom with a full-time job borrow some Japanese bento techniques to make more appealing lunches WITHOUT adding materially to prep time?

I decided to find out.

First, I needed some supplies. The choices were frankly daunting, but after much online perusing, I chose just a few items to start:

1. Japanese Obento box



2. Cute-shaped sandwich cutters



3. Sandwich boxes (Because I’m starting to feel guilty about all that wasted foil.)



4. Little cups to separate the food

Amazon says these supplies won’t arrive until at least September 14th. Stay tuned for results…

In the meantime… if you have your own ideas about making gorgeous school lunches fast, post them below in the comments.

Because we can never have too many great lunchbox ideas.