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Behind the Counter at a local Japanese Bento Shop
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Behind the Counter at a local Japanese Bento Shop



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This is a Japan behind the counter food tour of a local Japanese bento shop. For more than 40 years, Bento Kawano has been making delicious Japanese handmade bento lunches at the affordable price of 600yen. At this value and quality it’s no surprise everyday that the customer lunch lines wrap around the entire block. One important things about this Japanese bento shop is that they must be extra careful about food safety. Since Bentos are designed to be able to sit on the shelf for several hours without refrigeration, the food must always be fully cooked. Run by Japanese food craftsman, Inoue san, he changes the menu everyday so his customers have something to look forward to. He particularly enjoys analyzing the performance of his previous bentos and creating new ones to see how popular it will be, but ultimately he says that whatever bento he serves, he creates each one as if he’ll be sharing it with his loved ones. Interestingly, this Tokyo bento shop runs 4 rice cookers simultaneously throughout the entire day to keep up with the demand using a special hitomebore rice from Miyagi prefecture known for its exquisite taste especially when its cooled down. Even the rice at the shop was specifically selected by Inoue san. I hope you enjoy this Tokyo Hidden gem bento shop.

Bento Kawano
– https://goo.gl/maps/LUWZtAGDey1msVFw6
– https://www.genkigohan.com/

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50 Comments

  10. Sergio Ruiz

    Honestly having gone abroad to expand my cooking knowledge, had I known Japanese I gladly would have worked for this man. He has a kind nature in what is a very stressful career, especially considering his customer base. I applaud him, there are so many stories that I have heard working for high end chefs, but this man has my respect

  11. Rea

    What a great experience you shared with me. Thank you.
    The most Informative piece being to work harder and gain trust of people.

  16. TiM W

    Love your vids Paolo. Wishing you a healthy and prosperous 2023 for you and your family: )

  17. Courtney

    I’m so curious how he is able to keep things so cheap! And why! They are so busy it seems like even charging an extra 100 yen would go a long way.

  23. Helemar

    Inoue-san is nothing short of sugoi! Hard working, humble, loves his profession, and clearly treats his workers and customers with respect. This put a smile on my face.

  24. T-Virus Terrance

    Hello, Humans
    Life can be painful, especially, if you're different and can't relate to anyone. Mental strength will help you get through anything, deal with anything.

    TERRANCE OUT

  30. InVerum

    As much as I appreciate the insane effort and dedication that goes into this, we definitely shouldn't be glorifying this bonkers work schedule. 15+ Hour days should not, by any means, be the norm. Definitely ways to break this out into multiple shifts (assuming they can find someone). Hope they do and this guy can work more reasonable hours, seems like a class act.

  36. Mark

    the secret to a good cook/chef

    is given away, @12:13

    whatever you serve,
    you prepare it as if you are
    cooking it for one of your loved ones.

    This is what people mean when they
    say that their "secret ingredient" is love

  37. AVTOMAT

    I am so glad I get to eat food like this. Times were very harsh in 2011. Wars everyday as we were being doublecrossed by the News Stations in Iraq and Syria all the way to the Zaire in Rhodesia. Surrounded and almost captured, I made it out and took those Spanish smugglers out. Dead Men Tell No Tales.

  43. MaydupNem

    I wish I could get bentos like these, my school sells them for like 9 dollars and its just rice, cheap chicken and for some reason pineapple and siracha

  47. Sailormac2

    Thanks for bringing us this story, the head chef is AWESOME. He deserves every bit of his shop’s success!

  49. Griggs133

    I respect the chef immensely. Imagine losing your mother at a early age, your father abandoning you, and nobody having any faith and expecting you to be another f*ckup and then starting a successful Bento shop with no prior experience by working hard and still finding time to be a cool dad to your kids by taking them out on rides in your hot rod and on fishing trips. He deserves all the success he gets

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