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About Just Bento

Just Bento is owned and published by me, Makiko Itoh. I am a Japanese woman, born in Tokyo; I may either be in Yokohama, Japan or near Zürich, Switzerland when you see this. (That's me in the photo at age 3, reading yet another book.) Besides Japan and Switzerland, I've also lived in France, the UK and the US for extended periods. While I am passionate about promoting Japanese cooking and culture, I'm also interested in plain, simple, delicious and easy to prepare food.

Just Bento is dedicated to the subject of healthy, simple bento lunches, some traditionally Japanese, some not so traditional. The focus is on bentos for health and weight-conscious adults, but many of the recipes and methods are applicable to bentos for all ages. The site was established in October 2007, and has rapidly grown to be one of the top destinations for people interested in bentos or obentos (お弁当）in English.

Just Bento is the sister site of Just Hungry, perhaps the best known Japanese recipe blog on the internet. There's a lot more about me on the About page there. I have also recently started a site about general Japanese culture and society called Just My Japan.

If you're new to the site, you may want to start here: How Just Bento is organized, and finding your way around.

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