“Ekiben” culture may be dying out, but a leading Tokyo department store is doing its level best to help operators find new sales channels for their products featuring delicacies from all over Japan.

The boxed meals associated with trains and train stations seemingly have been part of the landscape forever.

But that began changing as local train lines got taken out of service. Faster train services in rural areas mean that existing, slower lines are used by fewer passengers.

These and other trends have all taken a toll on demand for ekiben, which has left box lunch operators struggling to survive.

As if to make up for the lost opportunities, ekiben products now feature at department stores and supermarkets.

But it’s not the same as grabbing a bento at the station and tucking into the contents once the train is moving.

KEEPING THE FLAME ALIVE

One venue, in the meantime, has been helping struggling ekiben dealers to develop new sales channels: an annual event featuring ekiben at the Shinjuku outlet of the Keio Department Store.

A landmark 60th session of the event was held in January.

Enthusiasm for keeping the ekiben tradition alive underlies the time-honored history of the event.

Ekiben, which means bento sold at train stations (eki), were first sold at train stations in the late 19th century.

It is commonly accepted that ekiben first appeared at Utsunomiya Station in the capital of Tochigi Prefecture.

The practice of peddling ekiben at train stations later became widespread. It also became an established style for train passengers to buy ekiben at the station and consume the contents in the train.

Railroad networks sprouted across Japan during the postwar period of high economic growth, and the number of railroad users also grew. Ekiben rode on that wave.

More than 400 dealers were selling ekiben at stations of the Japanese National Railways, the predecessor to today’s JR group, during the period from 1965-1974, according to Nihon Tetsudo Konai Eigyo Chuokai (Japan central association of businesses operating on railroad premises).

The ekiben market, however, later began to shrink due to the spread of private cars and other factors. Only 77 ekiben dealers operated at JR stations as of April 1, 2024.

Fearing for its survival, the ekiben industry began approaching department stores and supermarkets.

Ekiben products from around Japan came to be sold at ekiben shops that emerged at railroad terminals in metropolitan areas, such as the “Ekiben-ya Matsuri” outlet at JR Tokyo Station.

Venues outside the train stations of origin are now the mainstay sales destinations for ekiben products.

‘EKIBEN KOSHIEN’

Survival outside the train stations of origin, however, is not easy.

“Retail shops have broader lineups of bento products other than ekiben,” noted Tadatsugu Numamoto, 77, who served as secretary-general for Eigyo Chuokai for more than 10 years through 2020.

“Ekiben products ought to capitalize on their added value by, for example, using local ingredients only and improving the containers,” he said.

The annual ekiben event at the Keio Department Store Shinjuku outlet, which was held from Jan. 4 through 22 this year, earned the moniker of Ekiben Koshien after the name of the ballpark in Hyogo Prefecture, where powerhouse high school baseball teams from across Japan compete for a championship trophy every summer.

The annual event has played the role of a go-between that connects ekiben products to markets outside train stations. Preserving ekiben culture is now part of its mission.

The event was first organized in 1966, slightly more than a year after the Keio Department Store Shinjuku outlet opened.

Most of the special events held at department stores in those days were one-off events. The ekiben event was the exception as organizers used the word “first” in the title as a come-on.

The best-selling item at the first session was the Kani Zushi (crab sushi) ekiben from Tottori Station in the capital of Tottori Prefecture.

About 350 ekiben varieties are currently marketed at the annual event, up from only 30 at the inaugural session.

Proceeds from the event surged from only about 46 million yen ($245,000) during the first session to more than 700 million yen during the 45th session of 2010.

RAGS TO RICHES

The annual event even saved one ekiben business from an existential crisis.

Shoeiken, an ekiben dealer based in Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, faced a nosedive in proceeds around the time the southern half of the Kyushu Shinkansen Line opened in 2004, partly due to a drop in station user numbers.

“We could have had to shut up shop,” said Isamu Matsuyama, chairman of the business founded in 1929.

But Shoeiken managed to bounce back after it got an opportunity to set up a booth at an exhibition featuring products from Kagoshima Prefecture held at the Keio Department Store.

The dealer earned broad name recognition as soon as its Berkshire pork bento product was featured in the “showdown series” section of the ekiben event the following year.

Shoeiken has since been setting up shop at special events across the nation and now boasts an annual turnover of 2 billion yen.

“Our ekiben business, which hails from a small city with only 50,000 or so residents, has made its way onto the national stage,” said Matsuyama, 83.

CITY LIGHTS

Keio Department Store Co., the operator of the Tokyo store, has worked as one to prop up the annual ekiben event.

Kazumasa Yokoyama, a buyer for the department store operator, said that ekiben businesses eking out a modest existence in their local communities often shudder at the prospect of coming to Tokyo to market their ekiben at on-site cooking demonstrations, partly because of staffing shortages.

Yokoyama, 38, said he does his best to encourage hesitant dealers by telling them, for example, that “customers are waiting” for them to come.

Takahiko Kono, a division chief with Keio Department Store in charge of the ekiben event venue, said the food fair leaves him with a sense of fulfillment because it is helping to keep ekiben culture alive.

“I feel happy when I learn that an ekiben dealer appearing here for the first time gets approached by officials of a supermarket chain with a proposal for sales,” said Kono, 57.

RANKINGS OF SALES VOLUMES AT THE ANNUAL EKIBEN EVENT

First session (1966, about 30 varieties)

1. Kani Zushi (Crab sushi): Tottori Station (Tottori Prefecture)

2. Kyubi no Kama-Meshi (“Nine-tailed fox” lunch of rice cooked in a pot): Kuroiso Station (Tochigi Prefecture)

3. Ebi-Meshi Bento (Shrimp and prawn box lunch): Niitsu Station (Niigata Prefecture)

4. Ika-Meshi (Squid stuffed with rice): Mori Station (Hokkaido)

5. Unagi-Meshi (Eel lunch): Hamamatsu Station (Shizuoka Prefecture)

20th session (1985, about 30 varieties)

1. Ika-Meshi: Mori Station

2. Toge no Kama-Meshi (Mountain pass lunch of rice cooked in a pot): Yokokawa Station (Gunma Prefecture)

3. Masu no Sushi (Trout sushi): Toyama Station (Toyama Prefecture)

4. Daruma Bento (Daruma doll box lunch): Takasaki Station (Gunma Prefecture)

5. Niku-Meshi (Meat lunch): Kobe Station (Hyogo Prefecture)

59th session (2024, about 300 varieties)

1. Gyuniku Domannaka (Beef with rice of the Domannaka variety): Yonezawa Station (Yamagata Prefecture)

2. Ujiie Kaki-Meshi (Ujiie’s oyster lunch): Akkeshi Station (Hokkaido)

3. Omi-Gyu Kiwami (Omi beef supreme): Kusatsu Station (Shiga Prefecture)

4. Kobako-Gani Gohan no Kani Sushi (Crab sushi of rice with Kobako-Gani crab): Kanazawa Station (Ishikawa Prefecture)

5. Arita-Yaki Curry (Arita ware curry): Arita Station (Saga Prefecture)

* Ika-Meshi has been excluded from the rankings after it was promoted to “Hall of Fame” status following 50 successive victories won through the 55th session. Only products sold with on-site cooking demonstrations were eligible for the rankings for the 35th and subsequent sessions.