Lawson's corn bento from its “Way too single-minded!” bento series has become a hot topic on China's Weibo. Priced at around ¥300, the bento reportedly consists of white rice covered entirely with corn kernels.
Lawson, a major Japanese convenience store chain, announced its new “Way too single-minded!” bento series, featuring bentos priced at around ¥300 and topped with just one type of side dish, such as a sausage or keema curry. The lineup also includes a corn bento covered entirely with corn kernels.
A blogger with 5.4 million Weibo followers introduced the bento, explaining that it was designed to cater to the polarization of consumption in Japan. Keywords including “Japanese corn bento” and “Lawson launches bento containing only corn kernels” became hot search terms.
Chinese internet users responded with a succession of sympathetic comments such as “Who thought this up?”, “It looks like bird feed” and “Japanese people don't eat proper meals,” along with critical opinions including “Wouldn't the cost be less than 1 yuan?” and “You can get a much better bento for ¥300.”
There were also positive comments, including “Not bad. I like it,” “The sausage one looks tasty” and “I fry canned corn in butter and eat it.” (Translation and editing: Kitada (北田))