Natural Wood-Grain Square Bento Box

The Tsunoda Kishu Cypress Square Bento Box is a one-tiered bento box with a divider. The divider makes the food easy-to-serve, beautiful, and prevents the flavors of different dishes from mixing. It comes in handy for single-person use, as a container for picnics, parties, or Japanese sweets–making it easy to share a range of dishes. 

This bento box also absorbs moisture from the air around it, which prevents food from going dry or stale for long periods of time. Many have been highly impressed by the tastiness of food stored even after it gets cold. 

It is made out of beautiful Kishu cypress from the mountains of Wakayama Prefecture. A machine is used to hollow out blocks of wood and are hand finished by local craftsmen. Each bento box is carefully created, and only about ten are produced per day.

Tsunoda Seibee

The long-standing history of Tsunoda Seibee Shoten, located in Wakayama Prefecture, begins in 1830 near the end of the Edo period (1603-1867) as a specialty store of Kishu lacquerware. The origin of the store's name dates back to the Kanei period around 1620, when the merchant Tsunoda Seibee traveled from Kishu (present-day Wakayama Prefecture and Mie Prefecture) to Edo (present-day Tokyo) on foot to sell lacquerware made in Kishu. 

Kishu Lacquerware

Kishu lacquerware is one of the traditional crafts of Wakayama Prefecture and is mainly produced in the Kuroe area of Kainan City. The origin of Kishu lacquerware dates back to the Muromachi-Sengoku period (1336-1568) when woodturners began manufacturing wooden bowls using wood from local Kishu cypress trees.

Today, Kishu lacquerware is recognized as one of the major lacquerware styles of Japan and was designated as a traditional craft by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (present-day Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) in 1978.