At a time when white rice was scarce and the populace was expected to demonstrate its patriotism, Kinu prepared Frank a hinomaru bentō (boxed lunch), named after the hinomaru flag, with its rectangle of white rice and a red umeboshi (pickled plum) in the center. The lunch symbolized the home front’s solidarity with its troops, who were probably eating much the same. If this humble fare were enough for the troops, the conventional wisdom went, so too for civilians. Everyone knew that this austere bentō arose from expedient bravado: no one had the ingredients for the fish, vegetable, and savory
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