Shiumai Bento at 1,180 yen, Toge no Kamameshi at 1,500 yen: about twice a regular makunouchi bento in Tokyo (639 yen on average). Why are ekiben so expensive? People often say railways take a big cut of sales. But the fee Japanese National Railways set in 1949 was 1% of sales plus a fee for the space. From the first ekiben said to have sold for 5 sen at Utsunomiya, to the era when the state set prices, the craft of making food that tastes good cold, prices that include unsold waste, windows that stopped opening and the end of onboard sales, department store ekiben fairs, and today's price hikes, traced through official sources.

0:00 Ekiben cost twice as much
0:37 The first ekiben and the inns
1:43 Prices were set by the state
2:18 How big is the railway's cut?
2:58 Tasty even when cold
3:53 Waste is part of the price
4:26 When train windows stopped opening
5:30 Ekiben that sell at department stores
6:12 Recent price hikes
7:36 The answer

Illustrations are AI-generated. The script is my own; narration is an AI voice (ElevenLabs). Music and sound effects: YouTube Audio Library.