Every day at Japanese immersion preschool, my son’s class sings this song before they eat their bento lunches. It encourages the children to wash their hands, eat anything they’re given, and be polite. In Japanese there are a couple of standard phrases everyone says just before and after eating. “Itadakimasu” (I’m receiving…) is said right before you eat, and “Gochiso sama” (Thank you for the meal) is said right after. The song teaches the children these two important mealtime phrases, and is often sung in Japanese preschools before lunch. There are different variations on the spoken part at the end, depending upon the school.

The Obento song is less involved than the [1] Bento Box Song I wrote about previously. I found a [2] video on YouTube of a child (not mine) singing the Obento song at Japanese preschool — pretty amusing. There’s also a [3] clear audio version here — enjoy!

Obento no Uta (Bento Song)

[4] (Japanese version here)

Obento obento, ureshii na
Otete mo kirei ni narimashita
Minna sorotte goaisatsu (Itadakimasu!)

Obento obento, ureshii na
Nan demo tabemasho, yoku kande
Minna sundara goaisatsu (Gochiso sama!)

(Spoken) Te o awasete
Minnasama go issho ni
Itadakimasu
Dozo meshiagare

Translation:

Obento obento
So happy (hooray!)
My hands are clean too
Now that we’re all together,
Let’s say “Let’s eat”

Obento obento
So happy (hooray!)
Let’s eat anything & chew it well
Now that we’re all finished,
Let’s say “Thank you for the meal”

(Spoken) Let’s put our hands together
Everyone together
Itadakimasu (”Let’s eat”)
Please start eating