In Japan, long before arriving at your destination, enjoying your trip begins as soon as you board the train, for example by tasting its team purchased at the station. A ranking of these meal boxes has existed since 2012: let's take a look at the winners of recent years.
A ranking that began in 2012
In Japan, “Shinkansen travel” is synonymous with “ team », meal boxes indoors essentials sold in all stations. The term is a contraction of suffix (station) and indoors. They are so successful that in 2012, the company Japan Railways (JR) decided to launch its “Grand prix team », a special event which coincided with the thirtieth anniversary of the start of operation of the Jôetsu Shinkansen line and the fifteenth anniversary of the Nagano Shinkansen. That year, 23 team had been presented during the event, coming from cities located along these two lines, such as Ômiya, Takasaki, Niigata and Nagano. Involved, travelers were invited to vote for their team favorite.
Since then, the success of the event has only grown and the year 2024 welcomed the thirteenth edition of the competition. Other awards were also given in categories such as Flavor, Presentation, Wrapping Paper Design and Best New indoors.
This year, Japan East Railway (JR East) tried to diversify its range by, for example, offering frozen meal boxes to purchase online on its JRE Mall website.
No less than 61 team were entered for the grand prix, from Hokkaidô in the north to Kagoshima in the south. Among them, 36 were newly registered.
The 2023 champion and three-time grand prize winner, Hanazen, from the town of Ôdate (Akita Prefecture), this time presented a new creation, called “A tough chicken meat on a bed of rice” (Totemo katai oyadori no torimeshi), offered at a price of 1,000 yen (around 6 euros). A few lines explain that the meat is so tough it will strain your jaw, but is absolutely delicious! One person who completed the challenge recommended the meat for its flavor and the pleasant chewing sensation.
Last year, Shinkineya, based in Yonezawa (Niigata Prefecture), came second with its curry-flavored Beef Domannaka, using a local rice variety. This year, it is aiming for first place, with a salty-tasting version, priced at 1,480 yen.
Oginoya, based in Annaka (Gunma prefecture), offers for sale its team “Tôge no Kamameshi”, consisting of steamed meat and vegetables over rice. This year, the company returns with a new version, for a price of 1,600 yen. But be careful, the new team is not a kameshi ordinary ; it includes rice cooked in a homemade sponge sauce, grilled chicken with yuzu and pepper, giving the meal box a citrusy taste, and lightly spiced bamboo shoots prepared in a special oyster sauce flavored with black pepper.
All the team proposed this year will undoubtedly be excellent, but let's of course not forget the winners of past years' competitions! Here is the list.
1era edition (2012)
Tarameshi (1,400 yen) by Heimat Hotel in Jôetsu, Niigata Prefecture
Cet team has been available for sale since 1992. A true delight for fish lovers, it is composed of tara (cod) cooked in sweet soy sauce until almost dry. The flesh of the fish thus becomes very tender, just like its bones and the giant cod eggs that accompany the fish. The variety of rice used is koshihikarilocally grown and cooked with seaweed kombu salty. The meal box also includes vegetables such as cucamelon or cucumber-melon marinated in sake lees and leaves of nozawanamarinated in wasabi.
(© 2020 Hôtel Heimat)
2e edition (2013)
Domannaka beef (1,480 yen) from Shinkineya, Yonezawa, Niigata Prefecture
This lunch box was originally designed to coincide with the opening of the Shinkansen Yamagata line in 1992. It is made with rice domannaka locally grown, cooked to perfection and topped with two pieces of beef, one ground, the other simmered into a stew. The box is shaped like a “window” that highlights the beef inside. If you like this teamthe company also offers a “beef domannaka” pizza!
(© Shinkineya)
3e edition (2014)
Bento Yonezawa (1,780 yen) by Matsukawa Bento Ten of Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture
Boasting a rich history, Matsukawa Bento-ten was founded in 1899.team that he offers contains grilled beef in a secret sauce and meatballs in a sweet and sour sauce. It consists of two varieties of Yonezawa beef with strong flavors. Rather rustic, the image on the wrapping paper represents a seller ofteam in the late 1800s, when the Ōu Main Line of Northern Japan was launched.
(© Matsukawa Bentô-ten)
4e edition (2015)
Torimeshi (980 yen) by Hanazen of Odate, Akita Prefecture
Cet ekiben torimeshi has been delighting young and old in Ôdate for over 70 years. The variety of rice used is Akita komachia local variety. The rice is cooked in a broth, a perfect balance of consistency with the simmered chicken, sweet and spicy.
(© JR East)
5e edition (2016)
Hinai Jidori no Torimeshi (1 300 yens) par Hanazen d'Ôdate, préfecture d'Akita
In Japan, chicken basket local is considered one of the three best breeds of poultry. This team perfectly combines salt-grilled chicken and ground chicken. Vegetables are not forgotten with grilled eggplant from the Hanazen company in a sweet miso sauce. This is the second year in a row that Hanazen has won the grand prize.
(© JR East)
6e edition (2017)
Ebi Senryô Chirashi (1 580 yens) de Shibata Sanshinken de Niigata, préfecture de Niigata
Cet team looks like a boxed sushi meal. It is composed of kabayaki (grilled eel in a soy-based sauce) and kohada (fish known as gizzard shad), both prepared with soy sauce and wasabi, boiled squid and steamed shrimp. Everything is covered with delicious pieces of scrambled eggs. Rice is locally grown, cooked in vinegar, with seaweed kombu grated to accentuate the flavor. The box features an old-fashioned Japanese postcard painted in black ink.
(© JR East)
7e edition (2018)
Nori Nori Ben (1,200 yen) by Mamefukuya de Kôriyama, Fukushima Prefecture
And indoors of nori (dried seaweed sheet) on two levels, with rice just like that grown in Kôriyama. Rather orthodox, this team is composed of an egg omelette, grilled salmon and simmered vegetables. In the center is placed a umeboshi (salted plum). By developing this teamthe employees wanted to pay tribute to the boxed meals that their busy mothers once lovingly prepared for them.
(© JR East)
8e edition (2019)
Sakemeshi (1,400 yen) by Heimat Hotel in Jôetsu, Niigata Prefecture
A new creation by the Heimat hotel, winner of the first edition of the grand prize (2012). For rice, the variety is koshihikarigrown locally, in Jôetsu, cooked with seaweed kombu salted, garnished with grilled silver salmon cooked in a sauce whose recipe is kept secret, roughly chopped into pieces, and salmon roe. Later, the establishment offered another team on two levels: the first with cod and the other with salmon.
(© 2020 Hôtel Heimat)
9e edition (2020)
Suwa-ben Hoijanee (1,080 yen) from Kappo Izumiya Restaurant in Suwa, Nagano Prefecture
Will take care of you means “See you soon” in the local Suwa dialect. This team brings together many local specialties, such as Suwa-style gyôza dumplings, fried freshwater smelt, rice balls topped with simmered freshwater shrimp, grilled local Shinshû pork with miso from Suwa, leaves of nozawana pickled, and even local Shinshû apple and quince jelly. A real explosion of flavors!
(© JR East)
10e edition (2021)
Wine no Meshi (1 500 yens) par Marumasa de Hokuto, préfecture de Yamanashi
Developed by JR East in collaboration with producer Marumasa, a brand with a long history, this team gives pride of place to appetizer-style dishes, for a perfect pairing with local wine. This is also a play on words with the local dialect wain meshiwhich means “Ass dry!” “. It includes nine dishes, such as a gratin made from carthick noodles, a specialty of the region, or even a chicken offal stew.
(© JR East)
11e edition (2022)
Tsugaru no Bentô O-Sakana Darake (1 400 yens) par Tasugaru Sôzai de Goshogawara, préfecture d'Aomori
A treat for fish lovers, as its name suggests (obstacle), this meal box is only composed of them. Seven varieties of well-known Aomori fish prepared in different methods: marinated, stewed, boiled, steamed and fried. Salt-grilled salmon, mackerel simmered in local apple juice, steamed yellowtail with seaweed kombu in a sweet sauce, humburg chopped squid, fried scallops and many other dishes, always based on fish of course!
(© JR East)
12e edition (2023)
Chûken Hachikô no Furusato Torimeshi Date (1,350 yen) by Hanazen of Date, Akita Prefecture
Cet team was developed on the occasion of the opening of the new Ôdate station building on the Ôu main line, and also to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the famous dog Hachikô, who originated from the surroundings of Ôdate , in Akita Prefecture. THE Torimeshi ekiben is inspired by the Hanazen company's famous chicken on rice meal box, which is full of local specialties such as chicken basket and radish daikon smoked. Hanazen has won the title of best three times team : in 2015, 2016 and 2023.
(© JR East)
(Title photo: promotional poster for the 2024 Ekiben Grand Prix, with the winner of the 2023 edition © JR East)
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