KARACHI: The tastiest meals in the world cannot equal the food cooked by your mother with love. The Japanese movie Bento Harassment by Rempei Tsukamoto is the story of an exasperated single mother not sure what to do about her high school-going daughter’s rebellious attitude until she decides to prepare bentos (lunch boxes) with messages of love for her to take to school with her every day, which results in the deepening of their bond eventually.

The movie was the first to be screened at this year’s Japanese Film Festival, which opened at the Japan Information and Culture Centre (JICC) on Tuesday.

The festival has been an annual affair organised jointly by the Consulate-General of Japan in Karachi and the Japan Foundation. This year’s three-day festival will see the screening of five movies, which include Mentai Piriri, Finding Calico, The Takatsu River and Pop in Q.

Speaking in fluent Urdu at the inauguration, the Deputy Consul-General of Japan in Karachi, Ashida Katsunori, said that one can also learn about another culture through movies.

About Bento Harassment, he said: “Here if you open a lunch box, you may find paratha or chapati perhaps with cooked lentils or curry. In Japan our lunch boxes, or bento, would always have a bowl of rice with some kind of cooked eggs, maybe an omelette, some chicken, etc,” he said.

Coming to the theme of the movie, he said that children when they are small are quite obedient to their parents, but sometimes this changes as they grow up and you find them opposing their parents.

“The movie is also about one such troubled relationship between a mother and daughter. It will also tell you about school life in Japan and the frustrations and ambitions of youth after finishing school,” he said, adding that this year’s Japanese Film Festival would be his last event at the JICC as he had completed his assignment in Pakistan and was leaving next week.

After the screening, the guests got a special treat in the shape of actual bento boxes with the most delicious Japanese food presented creatively with a face make of egg fried rice on which black olives were used for eyes, carrots for lips, a piece of sweet corn for the little nose and lots of noodles added above made to look like blonde tresses.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2022