Artistic character bento box lunches have made a resurgence, and originally got their start in Japan, where moms would take musubi and the like and construct them to resemble animals such as pandas and puppies, or even pop culture icons like Pikachu or Hello Kitty.

One mom who helped grow its popularity in Hawaii is Susan Yuen, who’s authored a handful of cookbooks related to the craft. She began her creative bento lunch journey in the early 2000s, when her daughter Paige was starting preschool. A shy youngster, Paige would only stay for half a day, opting to eat lunch at home with her mom.

“Her teachers would encourage her to stay to have lunch with them,” Yuen recalls. “A couple of moms were from Japan and they did these cute bentos. That’s how it started.”

Yuen tried her hand at crafting these types of home lunches for Paige, and that simple act of making lunch look fun turned into something wonderful — friendship and confidence.

“She would stay in school just so she could eat with the other kids,” Yuen says.

It also sparked a tasty pastime for Yuen, who turned the hobby into cookbooks.

“I would take pictures so I could remember what I did,” Yuen says. “And a friend of mine said I should submit to one of the publishers here.”

She heeded her friend’s advice and, through Mutual Publishing, put out Hawaii’s Bento Box Cookbook: Fun Lunches for Kids; Hawaii’s Bento Box Cookbook: 2nd Course; Hawaii’s Favorite Bento Box Recipes; and Little Hawaiian Bento Box Cookbook. All are out of print now, but the artistry lives on.

“My daughter was saying that she sees a lot of TikTok videos of people doing this,” Yuen says, noting Las Vegas-based Jessica Woo as a popular social media bento-maker. “It’s neat that it’s still around.”

For first-timers, Yuen recommends starting with sandwiches. No cooking is required, and breads, cheeses, meats, and side veggies and fruits are easy to cut. You can use olives for eyes, cheese as the mouth and ham for the nose.

“Look around for what you have,” she advises, noting that cookie and sandwich cutters in particular are great items to have due to their ease of storage and variety.

Other accessories include food picks (crowns, stars, musical notes, hearts, bows, animals, gems, etc.), veggie cutters (Yuen found hers locally in China-town), silicone cupcake liners and more — there are even kits online. With so many options for décor and design, the task might seem daunting. But, remember that it’s the thought that counts.

“The kids would be happy with one small thing that was special,” Yuen says. “It wasn’t always elaborate. It’s simple to make something that is everyday and normal, and just adding one little detail.”

Bento box art has the ability to offer a well-balanced meal in an aesthetically pleasing way. The rabbit-shaped sandwich is accompanied by broccoli trees and grape boulders, while lettuce and sprouts serve as the perfect grassy abode. A cherry tomato with a noodle makes a great balloon for a bear musubi friend. A farfalle pasta noodle becomes the ideal hair bow for a character’s head. Carrots cut out like hearts serve as a reminder that the person who made the lunch truly loves you.

“It’s little portions for them to taste and try,” Yuen explains. “Introducing them to new foods was a lot easier, it made them more interested in eating it.”

An Okinawan sweet potato might not look that appealing served how it normally is — sliced or mashed — but as a flower with a green bean as a stem and colorful carrot or fruit butterflies as accents, any person, no matter their age, would be more likely to eat it.

These culinary masterpieces are also a great way to get kids involved in the cooking process, while teaching them that it’s fun to make healthy choices.

“We used to go to farmers markets, and the kids, Sean and Paige, would pick out the things they were interested in trying. We incorporated that into the bentos. It was fun for them.”

While her kids were growing up, Yuen made probably hundreds of adorable home lunches, so it’s no surprise that she can’t remember her first attempt at culinary cuteness.

“But I’m sure it wasn’t very good,” Yuen says, a hint of laughter in her voice.

And that’s the beauty of character bento box art — it evolves with practice and has no limits.