Lunch ON!

A 36-year-old office worker continues to make bento for his 2 male colleagues. But why!?

At an Osaka office, "lunch on the floor" is held monthly, where workers sit between desks on the office floor and eat together. Since this gives workers the chance to sit down close to each other and talk, the monthly event has brought about many positive changes.

In Japan, restaurants don't only serve lunch for customers; they also cook lunch for their staff. At a Kanazawa company that distributes local produce, the director personally cooks delicious dishes for the staff using expired vegetables. 

We take a look at the staff lunch of a popular Thai cuisine restaurant in Tokyo. Check out what the Thai chefs cook for themselves for a heart-warming taste of home.

Is a move up of the corporate ladder a move up in lunch as well? We visit the nation's largest book distribution center to look at the respective lunches of new recruit, assistant manager and manager.

On "Onigiri of various seasons and regions", we visit Shodoshima Island, the cradle of olives in Japan, to find the delicious onigiri made using olive oil.

Every day, at the Kyoto woodblock print studio with a history of 120 years, craftspeople and other employees - ranging from ages 25 to 78 - take turns to cook lunch and dinner for everyone. We take a look at the unique lunch each person makes.

In the latter half of the episode, we report on a woman who packs her lunch not in a bento box, but on a plate to take to work. Her method of safely transporting her lunch is an outcome of series of trial and error…how does she do it?

On Aogashima Island, 360 km south of Tokyo, there are no restaurants that serve lunch. Therefore, residents mainly eat lunch at home, and the employees of a Tokyo construction company eat lunch made by the dorm mother. When the regular ferry cannot make it to the island for extended periods, Ms. Sato picks wild plants, and makes ingenious use of them to cook delicious dishes. 

At the central part of the island, many people steam vegetables and fish with geothermal heat, while they work on the fields. We look into the slow but blissful lunchtime on this small island.

A temporary shopping street with 30 shops was built in February of last year in Minamisanriku Town, Miyagi Prefecture. We take a peek at how the shop owners here help each other through the lunch they have every day. 

In Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, Kenichi Sasaki runs an oyster farming business. He once gave up on restarting the business after the great disasters of 2011. However, last December, he succeeded in shipping out raw oysters for the first time since the disasters, with the help of public organizations. Mr. Sasaki has lunch in the little tent where he processes the oysters. We follow him as he works hard to get his business back on track.

The president of a shipyard company personally cooks an extraordinarily filling dish, prepared on an iron grill. Also we have a new corner where we put the spotlight on curry with rice, which is on the menu at all staff cafeterias. What emotions cause people to order curry?

What are the sincere thoughts of a boss behind an "uneasy lunch"? In "Let's go see a bento", we visit Wakkanai, Hokkaido early in spring to look at the bentos, rich with the blessings of the seas, eaten by workers who produce dried cod sticks.

We visit a company that specializes in making movie trailers. Most employees spend work hours editing all alone. To have everyone talk to each other, the company president makes curry for her employees once a week.

In "Let's go see a bento", we look at the lunchtime of part-time female employees who work at a factory that produces unique erasers.

We visit a high-end French restaurant in Tokyo to see what the chefs do for lunch. At this restaurant, the lunch for the staff must be curry on Saturdays, as it is the perfect dish to clean out a week's worth of leftovers. Onigiri of different seasons and regions. We visit Hadano City in Kanagawa Prefecture, known for its production of edible cherry blossoms. There, the seasonal specialty is a simple onigiri rice ball of just rice and cherry blossoms pickled in salt.

This entire episode is dedicated to sharing the messages we have received from viewers! What does the bento box collector woman in her 30's pack for lunch? At a certain clinic, staff members cook ethnic dishes for lunch, and they eat them together with patients! A 42 year-old bento man lives a disciplined life, all because he wants to see his beloved family.

A veterinarian who works at an Okinawa aquarium has had the same lunch every day for 4 years in order to examine his marine animal patients. 

We look at the bentos eaten by craftspeople at a Kagoshima factory that makes baseball gloves for players worldwide, including those in Major League Baseball.

Take a look at the home-made lunch for veterinarians who work at a rehabilitation center for race horses.

Find out what people do for lunch on rainy days on Rain Lunch. We document the heart-warming relationship between the mistress of a cafeteria on a small island and a doctor who has been eating at the cafeteria for 35 years.

The new principal of an Osaka high school was recruited from the private sector. We document his first month on the job. How is his new job different from his old job as a screenwriter, and how has his lunch changed?

We look at a couple who has devoted over 20 years to study rice plants, and the bento they eat in their quest to find the ultimate rice.

A marine weather forecasting company in Shonan, Kanagawa Prefecture, has an all-surfer staff. Watch how they manage both business and pleasure, even during lunchtime!

In "Let's go see a bento", we visit a silk reeling mill in Okaya, Nagano Prefecture. We find some unique dishes packed in the bentos of vigorous veteran employees.

A veteran employee of a company staff cafeteria goes to the new, rival cafeteria to scout their lunch. 

On "Onigiri (rice balls) of different seasons and regions", we find a delicious corn onigiri made by farmers in Furano, Hokkaido.

Mount Tateyama in Toyama Prefecture is one of Japan's most popular destinations for mountain-climbing tourists. The Tateyama Center is the base for various types of workers who all operate to keep climbers safe. Although the workers face danger every day, they have Kinuko Aoyama, who manages the center's dining hall, to support them with her cooking. 

In the 2nd half, we visit a theater troupe to check out the filling lunch that they have, cooked by a former professional chef of French cuisine.

The sight of bento vendors walking around on platforms of train stations is rapidly becoming something of the past. We follow a bento vendor who devotes himself to selling bento that way, despite the times. What is the local lunch he loves so dearly?

In the 2nd half, we check out the energizing daily lunch eaten by workers at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, who continue to excavate rare fossils.