{"id":6958,"date":"2026-06-16T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=6958"},"modified":"2026-06-16T09:00:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:00:47","slug":"japanese-bento-shop-touches-hearts-by-selling-super-cheap-boxed-lunches-for-around-a-dollar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=6958","title":{"rendered":"Japanese bento shop touches hearts by selling super cheap boxed lunches for around a dollar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

A humble store so generous it makes us want to cry.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The recent wave of price hikes in Japan shows no signs of slowing down \u2013 in fact, many would say it\u2019s only getting worse. These days, it feels like we\u2019re constantly checking prices and lamenting over how things that were once affordable just aren\u2019t any more, especially when it comes to food, as portion sizes get smaller and prices get higher, even at local supermarkets.<\/p>\n

With our eye now becoming expertly trained to spot a bargain, we did a double-take recently when visiting Aikawa in Tokyo\u2019s neighbouring Kanagawa Prefecture. There, we spotted a bright yellow building with \u201c190 yen\u301c\u201d painted in bright red, so we sidled up for a closer look.<\/p>\n

\u25bc 190 yen translates to US$1.18 in today\u2019s money.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The shop was called Gottsuan Bento, and the \u201c190 yen\u301c\u201d, followed by \u201cwith tax 205 yen\u301c\u201d in parentheses, was advertising the pre-tax price for things like \u306e\u308a\u5f01 (noriben), \u3084\u304d\u305d\u3070 (yakisoba), \u30ab\u30ec\u30fc (curry) and \u304a\u854e\u9ea6 (soba).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

These prices made us feel like we\u2019d travelled back in time to the good ol\u2019 days, so we immediately stepped inside to take a look at what was on offer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It soon became clear that this really was one of the last bastions of yesteryear prices, with rows of delicious-looking cheap bento meals on display.<\/p>\n

\u25bc Piping hot and freshly made from the kitchen in the back, these meals had a fantastic homemade feel to them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We may have been cash-strapped in a bento store, but we had all the excitement of a kid in a candy store, with cheap prices enticing us at every turn. Although the yakisoba was 205 yen, the nori ben and curry were slightly higher than advertised out front, but at 213 yen we certainly weren\u2019t complaining.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Taking a look at the back of the store revealed even more bento varieties, with slightly more luxurious ingredients to match the higher prices.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Even these were a great deal, with the \u201cNori Ben DX\u201d going for 321 yen, and everything else 429 yen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Despite the cheap prices, each bento was beautifully presented and generously portioned, far exceeding what we\u2019d expect these days at this price point.<\/p>\n

\u25bc Four types of hamburg to choose from \u2013 DX, grated daion radish, tomato sauce, and cheese.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u25bc Other options included nori mentaiko (noriben with pollock roe), fried shrimp, and pork kimchi.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although we wanted to buy every type of bento they had, we limited ourselves to just three and took them to a nearby park to try them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u25bc These are the three we chose.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u25bc First up to the tasting plate was the noriben, which cost just 213 yen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Noriben is famous for being one of the simplest yet most satisfying bentos you can get in Japan. It commonly consists of a bed of rice topped with seasoned bonito flakes and a sheet of nori seaweed, and is usually accompanied by a chikuwa (tempura fish cake) and a piece of fried whitefish.<\/p>\n

\u25bc This noriben had all the right ingredients, and it ended up being quite filling, making it great value for money.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The batter on the fish was crispy and absolutely delicious, and although it didn\u2019t really need sauce, you can purchase it separately for an extra 5 yen, which is what we did.<\/p>\n

\u25bc With or without sauce, we loved everything about this bento.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Next up, we tried the Curry<\/strong>, which set us back a meager 213 yen. It was spicy and had an authentic finish, but most importantly, it was so delicious we couldn\u2019t stop eating it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Keeping the momentum before our belly had a chance to sense how full it was getting, we tried our final bento, the Pork Kimchi<\/strong>, which was the most expensive of the lot, at 429 yen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What we got was a very good return on investment, as the mound of pork kimchi was so generous it rose up beyond the height of the tray<\/strong>. The intense umami was irresistible, and so dangerously addictive that we managed to finish it all without giving our full belly a second thought.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sitting back in the sunshine on the park bench like a warlord who\u2019d just finished a bento feast, we took a look at the receipt to find out how much the spread had cost us.<\/p>\n

\u25bc All three meals, including the sauce, cost just 860 yen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was hard to believe that in this day and age we could feel this full for this price, and the sense of fullness wasn\u2019t just in our belly, as our heart was full of warmth at knowing a place like this existed. As we digested our food, we were so moved by the experience that we almost wanted to cry with happiness.<\/p>\n

The generosity of the store extends well beyond the prices, because although profit margins must be low, there\u2019s no cutting corners on the portions or flavour to cover costs. That does mean the store is popular, and although the opening hours are advertised in the window as \u201cOpen from 10 a.m. until sold out\u201d, everything tends to sell out by early afternoon, so you\u2019ll want to keep that in mind if you visit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alternatively, there\u2019s another branch of Gottsuan in Sagamihara, near Odakyu Sagamihara Station in Kanagawa Prefecture, which you can get to from Tokyo on the Odakyu Line.<\/p>\n

\u25bc A 10-minute walk from Odakyu Sagamihara Station.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After discovering the wonders of Gottsuan Bento, we\u2019re now filled with hope that there are other cheap bento places waiting to be discovered in Japan. And they might just be hiding out in Kanagawa Prefecture, seeing as it\u2019s home to our other bargain secret, Kogane Bento, where you can buy delicious croquettes for just 20 yen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Store information
\n<\/strong>Gottsuan Bento Aikawa Branch \/ \u3054\u3063\u3064\u3041\u3093\u5f01\u5f53 \u611b\u5ddd\u5e97
\nAddress: Kanagawa-ken,\u00a0Aiko-gun, Aikawa-cho,\u00a0Nakatsu 303-3
\n\u795e\u5948\u5ddd\u770c\u611b\u7532\u90e1\u611b\u5ddd\u753a\u4e2d\u6d25303-3
\nHours: 10:00 a.m. until sold out every day<\/p>\n

Images\u00a9SoraNews24
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A humble store so generous it makes us want to cry. The recent wave of price hikes in Japan shows no signs of slowing down \u2013 in fact, many would…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}