This was too irresistible not to translate – I have done something different though. I have not translated the steps word for word, but instead combined her ideas with helpful hints on how to do this on your own. This is probably a little more effective for those of us who have never made a charaben before to try! She also has a post on her own blog with the recipe. She also has a post about the event itself, but no photos of Naoko . The photos on the ANIMAX page basically show daughters working with their mothers to assemble the bentos. I have included the Japanese names of as many of the ingredients as I could.

Before I go on though, here’s the copyright warning. All Images Below are property of Kaerenmama, Foodies TV, and ANIMAX. These are solely being used for non-profit purposes, only to educate English readers about how to make these lunches!

Ingredients and Materials:

(ご飯) Go Giri (Cooked Rice – Usagi’s head will be an Onigiri or rice ball). (There is a recipe here on how to make the rice ball/onigiri, but you can add whichever filling you want. Kaerenmama uses Tarako)
(たらこ) Tarako – called “Cod Roe” in Japan, but it is really Alaskan Pollock roe (fish eggs). Roe can be used as a filling raw in Japanese cuisine, or if you want you can add a little soy sauce to it (but use a low sodium soy sauce because Roe is very salty).
(カニかま) Kani Kama (Crab Sticks) (Note: for a vegetarian or no seafood version, you could probably get away with steamed carrot sticks, just make sure that they are not very thick)
(薄焼き卵を)Usuyaki Tamago (Egg Sheets) (Sailordees’ Note – this is really easy to make, whip up an egg, and then put a very thin layer in the pan and be very carefully not to burn! Else, there’s a great recipe for how to make it here.)
(スライスチーズ) Suraisu Chizu (Cheese Slice) (No idea what kind she is using in the photos, up to you entirely, but choose something that is a lighter color like swiss or gouda)
(海苔)Nori (seaweed sheets) (These are usually located in your grocer’s deli section or near the Asian food section)
(丸い型抜きなど) Marui Katanuki Kinado (Literally, something that can punch out a round shape, in this case, Karenmama suggests a Pop Bottle Cap, or you can use a round mini-cookie cutter)
Cupcake/Muffin Baking Cups (they have silicone ones, but you could probably get away with using 3-4 stacked together to hold the rice, or better yet see if you can find the foil kind).
Clean Tweezers (or chopsticks if you don’t have dexterity issues like I do and want to do things properly :p) for proper setting
Plastic wrap
(ストロー) Sutoro (Drinking Straw) You will need straws of at least 3 different sizes (I suggest getting a big slurpee/bubble tea straw, a regular straw, and a small one either from a bar or from a juice box, but make sure one end is slanted and the other is not)
(包丁) Houchou (Big Chef Knife) (to cut off the edges of the egg sheet that might be too thin).
(ハサミ) Hasami (Scissors – make sure they are clean!) to cut the Nori

Directions:

Step 1: Form your rice into a ball (onigiri) and use the plastic wrap to help set it properly. Squish and shape it between the palms of your hands until you have a ball that is big enough to fit in the baking cup. If you decide to use Tarako, Kaerenmama suggests to grill it to your liking for this recipe. Form a deep dent in the rice ball, and put some of the roe inside using a spoon. Then squish and shape the rice between the palms of your hand such that the rest of the rice completely covers the filling and you have a perfectly shaped rice ball! The plastic wrap will help to keep it in shape, and also to store it for later.

Step 2: Using the stencil found here (we have posted it below), and the pop bottle cap, cut out two circles for her odangoes, her ponytails, bangs, and tiara out of the egg sheet (usuyaki tamogo). Note: in one of the videos, she also uses the bottle cap to make moon shapes (pictured to the right, sorry about the terrible image quality). Cut out a circle with the bottle cap, and use your tweezers/chopsticks to pop out the circle. Then cut out another circle in that circle about a third of the way through the shape. YOU HAS A MOON!

Step 3: Onto the crab or carrot sticks! Using your straws, use your biggest to make Usagi’s red hair gems, your smallest to make her tiara jewel (the end that is not slanted), and the slanted end of the smallest one to make her mouth.

Step 4: White cheese slice of some sort. Could be swiss, could be aged cheddar, the fan can decide. Using all three of your straw sizes and the straight ends only, cut out two shapes for each size (these will make her eyes).

Step 5: Cut out two small circles that will fit just inside your biggest cheese circle with the scissors from the nori. Kaerenmama suggests folding the sheet in half and then cutting out your circles so they are both the same size.

Step 6 + 7:Using your hands, first tuck in the ponytails behind the rice ball on one side, and then the odangoes overtop. Add Sailor Moon’s red hair accessories, then place down her tiara, jewel, and finally, the bangs. I suppose you could do the mouth now (with clean tweezers or chopsticks).

Step 8: The eyes are a little tricky and you will need to use tweezers – first, down goes your biggest cheese rounds, then the nori circles overtop. She went a step further later and suggested to cut out eyelashes, but this is completely up to you. Then comes your 2nd biggest cheese round, centered on the nori, and the tiniest goes to the bottom side of the round – just for that extra glare! If you have not set in her mouth, now is the time!

Step 9: You’re done! Fill your bento with whatever else you would like to – to create other shapes, you can actually go to the craft store and find single hole punches in different shapes. You can use these to cut them out of thin sheets of nori, vegetables, cheeses, colored tofu slices, or meats! Be creative! Hers showed a mini salad with flowers made from (I think) thin ham or salami ribbons. Mini cookie cutters also work well too. Another variation she shows has “Usa” over top and fried chicken wings, mushrooms, potatoes, and steamed veggies. She uses small pieces of bamboo skewers (you could probably get away with toothpicks) to hold everything in place. Here again, are the images we posted before so you can eyeball your way around, and the variation.

You can probably make the whole Sailor Moon by cutting out shapes from the meat and nori, and using very thin ribbons of the egg sheet or cheese for stripes. And, if you want to make Luna, I am assuming that her rice just has some diluted purple food coloring (blue + red) and has mini triangular rice balls for ears. I’m tempted to try a variation of Sailor Moon using eggs, toast, and omelet veggies for breakfast. If and when I have the time to attempt this I actually do succeed, I will post pictures . Fans you are also welcome to send in your Sailor Moon Charaben experiments and they will be featured on our site!

Since last January, we’ve been covering a second special event ANIMAX had planned in alliance with Foodies TV of Japan to celebrate the return of Sailor Moon. The special class came and went on February 7th, with barely a whisper. Hours ago, a press release and news article finally made it to the media, and revealed some details about what is possibly the most interesting event we’ve ever learned of related to Sailor Moon!

There were two sessions, and not one like it was originally reported. One was held in the morning, and one was held in the afternoon. And, judging by how much was being accomplished at these bento sessions (we had read it was going to be more of a demonstration, not a hands-on workshop), we understand why there were only a small number of people drawn for tickets! Appearing at the afternoon session was none other than the Princess herself, Naoko Takeuchi! She appeared as a surprise guest and took part in the sessions. She enjoyed making the bento with the parents and the children! What an experience for Naoko and everyone else that was there – we wish we had pictures to show you! Maybe Naoko will invite the seiyuu to her place for lunch and serve them Sailor Moon Bento and Kotono Mitsuishi could post a photo – wouldn’t that be delightful? Or perhaps in a new anecdote Togashi could write in a future edition of Jump magazine: “My wife made me Sailor Moon charaben today. It was good, but I would have rather eaten Hunter X Hunter charaben.”

Speaking of which, there may be a glimpse on the videos provided on the special site, except that they are too big (and too slow) to load. The site features instructional videos on the bento, and we warn our readers that these videos are 200 and 400mb in length, and they are only being transmitted at a speed of 20k/s if you are lucky (and we’ve been trying to watch these over a high speed connection). As soon as these get loaded (possibly by tomorrow) we’ll try to (as soon as we can) tell you what else is on there.

ANIMAX and Foodies TV, in conjunction with Japan’s Edu magazine, are holding a contest for children to create their own Sailor Moon bento. Kids can send in their entries between March 1st and 30th, and 3 winners will be announced by Foodies TV, and they will get a feature article in the July issue of Edu. 10 winners will win both of the Season 1 boxsets, so those who don’t make it into the top 3 still have a chance to win something amazing! For more information, click here!

Please check out the special site that ANIMAX created with a report of the events. Even if you can’t cook, the images posted are absolutely beautiful to look at!

The press release at Presepe.JP ended best when it wrote (roughly translated) Let’s all put our love for Sailor Moon into the Charaben! We can’t put this in any better words – if we all had the opportunity to make these charaben, there isn’t a fan that wouldn’t put their heart and soul into this!

**”Charaben” is an amalgamation between character and bento and is used frequently in the Japanese language (before you ask us what that word means).

Literally just minutes ago, this article was posted for release to the news media providing more details about the venture between ANIMAX and Foodies TV in Japan, teaching kids how to make character bento meals. We are all loving these pictures right now and are really wishing there was some way to watch this channel! On February 7th, Kaerenmama (real name, Kyoko Sugawara) is going to show kids on Foodies TV how to make these bento, as well as teach them something about proper nutrition as well. There will be a special taping where 40 viewers will be invited to watch, sponsored by Tokyo Gas. In true Sailor Moon style, viewers will once again have to enter a lottery to win one of 20 pairs of tickets (each network is offering 10). The special will be aired on both ANIMAX and Foodies TV throughout the month of March. We wonder if Kotono Mitsuishi’s (Sailor Moon) daughter will watch this with her?! Moreover, the two channels have announced a competition where children can also submit their own bento recipes for a contest. The winner will be announced on May 18th in Shogakukan’s child-rearing magazine, edu. Looking at these pictures alone, it looks like fans have yet another reason to be jealous of Japan, again. We wonder if a Sailor Moon cooking special could ever thrive in the English TV market?

(click to enlarge)

Happy New Year Moonies! Here’s to a successful return of Sailor Moon for the rest of the world in 2010! News is a little slow, so instead of splitting these stories, I’m going to put them all together. Yes, we know that there is a lot going on in Italy right now but we are getting back into the swing of things after a much needed Holiday vacation. We promise a full post later this week!

Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars, and Jadeite Appear in Last Crayon Shin-Chan of the 2009!

Crayon Shin-Chan continues to play on in the wake of creator Yoshito Usui’s death. New episodes will continue to be produced and broadcast for this season at the very least. On December 4th, the last episode of the year aired, and featured Kotono Mitsuishi (Sailor Moon), Aya Hisakawa (Sailor Mercury), Michie Tomizawa (Sailor Mars) and Masaya Onosaka (Jadeite). In the first episode, Shin-Chan and Nanako through a series of unfortunate events are stuck together on the train, trying to follow Matsumi Ageo (played by Kotono), who is going out with a different man (played by Masaya)! They end up following them to a farm, where the man tries to teach Matsumi about farming, and how to plow a field. Nanako, being protective and angry with Matsumi, steps in, and shows them both how to plow. The man is so taken by her, he falls for her instead of Matsumi, and this is the last thing Nanako wants! But, it turns out that they are not on a date after all and he just admires her plowing skills – he is married and has a child! Michie also appeared in this episode playing Ume Matsuzaka.In the second episode, Shin-Chan’s school was having a carnival, and his mother Misae, had to knit something to sell. Unfortunately, she could not knit very well and her scarf had many snags and loose loops in it. We think Aya Hisakawa played a parent in this episode, but it was difficult to discern which one she played! No one bought Misae’s scarf, but towards the end of the episode she left the stall for a moment. A dark figure came up to buy the scarf, and Misae was the happiest person knowing that her scarf sold! The next morning, Shin-Chan’s father Hiroshi left for work, and outside the house took out Misae’s scarf from his briefcase, and wore it. Aww, what a sweet ending!

Kotono also blogged sentiments about Shin-Chan last November. During a meeting of cast and crew of the show, they shared the first few laughs they have had for a very long time. She finds her role as Matsumi Ageo to be a challenge, but it is also a secret weapon for her because it inspires her to set a new high for her performances! She regrets never actually meeting Usui, but hopes to continue to play the role as best she can for as long as she possibly can.

More Sailor Moon Themed Cooking on the Way in Japan!

ANIMAX along with IMAGICA TV’s Food and Travel Network Foodies TV to bring fans a little something special. Starting in February, the two channels are going to present specials to show viewers the art of making Bento (Japanese Lunch Boxes) for two months. If any of our readers aren’t familiar with what Bento is, here’s the short of it: they are home cooked lunches that are sometimes comparmentalized with a few small Japanese dishes. Some people get especially creative with their Bento boxes, fashioning them around an anime theme. YTV also attempted something similar years ago on their website. Sailor Moon will be featured as part of this special series, but we don’t agree with how the press release has labeled the show’s popularity. They state that it is popular with mothers and daughters in their 20s and 30s. Most recently, we’ve noticed a surge in blogs of newer teenage fans (and boys as well) talking about Sailor Moon. We are pretty sure that the show is a lot more popular with other demographics than this release suggests. The press release notes that it is not a common occurrence for two completely different companies to collaborate together, and handle all of their PR jointly (ANIMAX is owned by ANIMAX Broadcast Japan and Foodies TV is owned by IMAGICA TV). It is thought that the two companies working together on something like this will do a lot to boost their image in the public eye. If we find any clips of these specials, we will try our hardest to post them for you all!

Togashi Adds More Detail to Hunter X Hunter Volume 27 and Returns to Jump Magazine!

The Togashi World Blog has posted some images of manga frames from the latest volume published of Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter X Hunter and has compared them to frames published in Jump Magazines. When fans see these, they will see that there is a lot more detail added to the frame than there was in the magazine before. Not only have fans noticed that the quality of the comics in Jump Magazine aren’t what they used to be seeing from Togashi, but the press as well. We could understand why some minor details might be added to a frame, but somehow this makes us wonder if Shueisha is pressuring him to churn out stories, and then after the issues are published he takes his own time to put more effort into the manga. We may never know what exactly goes on between Shueisha and Togashim but nonetheless, it is nice to see some new work from him on this popular series – who knows when it will go on the back burner again? Fans can check out the images here. In other Togashi News, in this week’s issue of Jump, Hunter X Hunter made its return, and Togashi’s message to the fans in this issue was “Happy New Year. Sorry to keep you fans waiting. My goal for this year is to draw as much as possible”. Fans can only hope to see Togashi’s work for more than ten weeks this year! We expect to see volume #27 published by Viz sometime later this year as #26 has just been released this week!

A few weeks ago, I ran into an article about a high school in Japan that was having their yearly symposium, an event for the graduating class to show off their culinary skills. This took place at Ogaki Sakura Senior High School, in Gifu, Japan. This is not your conventional high school, here students can enroll in one of four programs: fashion design, welfare, food creation, and lifestyle and culture. This year’s theme was “Moon”! Students prepared dishes to reflect this theme from a wide variety of different cuisines. Japanese culinary treats included dumplings and other desserts that were round like the moon and arranged in the same way. The moon’s shape also reminded the chefs of the different seasons, so round spring and summer gardens were also created to complement the theme. The western cuisine used different variations on the Moon Princess, and Sailor Moon was one of them! Chinese cuisine was particularly difficult, one student remarked that it was very difficult to make carvings that would fit the theme on the meats and the vegetables. Mango pudding finished off the Chinese meal’s dessert. There are a few pictures of the event here, and fans can read the article (in Japanese) after the jump – it has since been removed and I had to work off of a cache to bring you this story.

料理のテーマは月　大垣桜高校食物科生が卒業作品展

2008年1月17日

{[Photo]「月」をテーマにした生徒たちの多彩な料理が並んだ会場＝大垣市の大垣桜高校で
写真}

　大垣市墨俣町の大垣桜高校で１６日、昨年の歌会始の儀の題「月」にちなんだ料理の発表会があった。食物科３年生による卒業作品で、器や盛りつけにも工夫を凝らした多彩な創作料理が並んだ。

　同科の生徒たちは２年生の１２月、京都市で同じテーマで開かれる京料理展示大会を見学。プロの料理人による作品を参考に約１年間をかけ、自分なりの試作や研究を重ね、卒業作品を完成させる。

　発表会では、４０人の生徒の作品を和、洋、中華のジャンルごとに展示。日本料理では、団子やしんじょう、デザートなどを月の丸い形にそろえたり、春夏秋冬の日本庭園をイメージして盛りつけたりと、見た目の美しさにこだわった作品が目立った。西洋料理では、「かぐや姫をもてなす」、アニメの「セーラームーンをイメージ」などユニークな着眼の作品も。

　唯一の中華料理で、肉、卵、野菜とマンゴープリンなどを色彩鮮やかに盛り付けて「鳳凰（ほうおう）と月」と名付けた氏原美沙子さんは「月という限定されたテーマを、どう表現するかでみんな悩みました。私は食材探しや細かな切り方に苦心しました」と話していた。

　会場では、グループごとに取り組んだ旬の食材を生かした集団給食のメニュー、生徒たちが出品した料理コンテストの入賞作品、コメを着色した「ライスアート」なども紹介され、訪れた関係者らを楽しませていた。

　（中西康）