What is the Japanese boxed lunch sold at train stations?

The Japanese boxed lunch sold at train stations is ekiben.

Ekiben are regional bento meals sold at Japanese railway stations and, in some cases, aboard trains. The word combines eki, meaning “station,” with ben, a shortened form of bento. Unlike an ordinary packed lunch, an ekiben often highlights local ingredients or a specialty associated with the place where it is sold.

The first widely cited ekiben sale took place at Utsunomiya Station in 1885, where the meal reportedly consisted of two rice balls and pickled daikon wrapped in bamboo leaves. By 1888, Himeji Station was selling a more elaborate rice-and-side-dish version. Railway travel helped turn regional food into a portable form of culinary tourism.

Bento is the general category of boxed meal, so every ekiben is a type of bento, but not every bento is an ekiben. Kyaraben instead refers to character-themed bento, while ofukuro is not the standard name for a station meal. Some ekiben containers are designed as souvenirs after the food is eaten.