Lifting the lid on Japan’s bento boxes www.bbc.com

That said, the majority of state primary and junior high schools serve (quite amazing, I may add) hot food.
So is the pressure of making lunch boxes just an issue for kids at private schools or in other words – rich families?
A tool of communicationThe issue is: lunch boxes are not just for young children in Japan.
According to a recent survey, many senior high school students (aged 15 to 18) still bring home-cooked lunch boxes to school, and the majority of them are made by their mothers.
“When rebellious teenagers often stop talking to their parents, by eating their mothers’ food, they still feel the love and be grateful,” she says.