"Bentō (弁当 or べんとう) is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine." (Wikipedia)
Lunches are always causing us headaches, can't really go out with such little time, also don't want to eat fast food or yucky cafeteria food everyday... These bentos are great solutions!
People may think these cute bentos are only for kids. No no! We can't avoid getting old physically, but it's the young hearts that really keep us active, chipper, happy and healthy! Even they may look silly to your colleagues, but who cares?! A good laugh could make your day too! Never too old to be happy, right? 
You can make any kind of characters that make you feel happy. These are just some inspirations. Use your creativities!!
Maruko is the main character of Janaese anime Chibi Maruko-chan (ちびまる子ちゃん). She's an ordinary 9 year old girl who's lazy, disorganized, and hates doing homework, just like many of us. 
The anime reminds me a lot of my childhood memories, fun and silly with friends; painful with school and homeworks. hehe~ Maruko's smiling face always makes me wander back to those old days and smile. 
Ingredients
Maruko's face
1 light-colored meat slice (turkey or chicken breast), 1 dark-colored meat slice (ham or chicken), 1 piece of seaweed, carrots
Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆
To make the face
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1. Prepare all the ingredients, cut carrots into a few slices. |
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2. Cut the light-colored slice into Maruko's face; dark-colored one into her hair. |
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3. Cut the seaweed into her eyes and eyebrows; carrots into her mouth. Assemble all the pieces and here's Maruko's smiling face! |
For the sandwich part, make whatever you like. So is the salad. Put the smiling Maruko on top of the sandwich and salads beside it. Now you got a very cute lunch to show your friends!
"Onigiri (御握り; おにぎり), also known as Omusubi (御結び; おむすび), is a snack of Japanese rice formed into triangle or oval shapes and often wrapped in nori (edible seaweed)." (Wikipedia)
If you like sushi, you will like Omusubi too. You can basically stuff anything in the Omusubis and the fun part is you can even make faces on them! Cut out the mouth and eyes in different shapes or assemble them differently can make tons of expressions! Could be a very cute way to deliver messages.
Ingredients
| Sushi rice, sushi vinegar, stuffing, 1 cook egg, seaweed, carrots, vegetables (fruits) |  |
Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆
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1. Cook the sushi rice. 2. Mix in sushi vinegar (1/5 of the amount of rice). |
To make the Omusubi
1. Put stuffing (I used tuna) on a layer of sushi rice.
2. Put another layer of sushi rice on top and wrap up the stuffings.
3. Shape the Omusubi into a triangle.
4. Wrap the Omusubi with a piece of seaweed.
